The Return
by Redhazard
Summary: Post Series. The world falls into chaos. A country struggles to form. The Magius seek ways to remain in control. For his part, Tokishima Soichi couldn't be happier. They really shouldn't have left the mad scientist alone.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Valvrave. Haruto would still be alive if I did.

* * *

As a rule, Shoko rarely allowed herself to feel negative emotions. There was nothing fun about being sad or angry.

People had different ways to cope with negative emotions. Shoko? Shoko did stuff. Shoko was an energizer bunny of helpfulness and bad t-shirts.

Being Prime Minister helped. It meant there was always something else to do. Meetings with ARUS' representatives. Meeting with her cabinet. Strategy sessions with L-Elf. Public appearances.

To say nothing of all the lovely documents that absolutely _needed_ her signature.

Shoko was grateful for it all. It took her mind off things. Things she did not want to think about. Like the war, the death of many friends.

Her father.

Yes, Shoko was grateful for her many duties. They gave her a safe and reliable way to handle her emotions.

A way which was not working at all right now.

Shoko was angry. She was sad.

And guilty. Incredibly guilty.

More than anything else, she wanted to see Haruto again, beg for forgiveness, and screw what everyone else thought.

The young girl took a deep breath and looked at all the students around her. She couldn't do that. Not yet. They still needed her, still looked up to her.

For a moment, she hated them.

In a moment of weakness, she had betrayed Haruto. When everyone was riddled with fear, she had let their doubts cloud her judgment and branded her best friend as a monster. She had cast out the people who saved her life to carter to the whims of scared children.

Oh, Akira! Poor Akira. She probably hated her now.

Were it not for them, maybe it wouldn't have ended this way. Maybe if she did not need to protect them. Maybe if she did not have to take care of them and play along with their stupid fears.

She knew those were lies. It had been her choice, and it had been the wrong one. She could shout and scream at Iori all she wanted, but it would not change the truth. She had been weak.

She had betrayed her friends.

Blaming the others would not solve anything.

No matter how horribly tempting it was.

"Prime Minister! Prime Minster!" cried out one of the students the moment he entered their improvised sick bay.

The interruption was a welcome one. Shoko had no desire to be alone with her thoughts.

"What is it?" She asked. The student had been one of her classmates. On better circumstances, Shoko would even be able to remember his full name, but that was not the case. She was too tired to care.

"Communications," he said. "It is L-Elf."

The name sent a ripple through the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. They had all seen the broadcast. They had all seen the attack against Chancellor Amadeus.

They had all seen he was one of _them_.

Magius.

The name had popped on the net almost immediately and Shoko suspected Akira had played a large role in that.

It was only natural for students to be curious after the way the broadcast had been cut off. Shoko would be lying if she said she had no interest in it. However, something held greater value in her mind.

News of L-Elf were news of Haruto.

Without even excusing herself, the girl walked past the messenger and made her way to the main bridge. Upon entering and looking at L-Elf's face on the screen, she immediately realized something was wrong. It wasn't the fact he still wore his Dorssian uniform, blood and all, nor was it the fact that Hatomi and Kibukawa-sensei stood at each side of him.

It was his expression.

People said many things about L-Elf, not all of them kind. She had often heard many students call him emotionless.

The people who said that were wrong of course. L-Elf was one of the most expressive people she knew.

People always stared at her when she said this, but it was true. L-Elf had emotions and rarely bothered to hide them. It was just matter of really looking at him. The twitch of his eyebrows. The tightness of his jaw.

L-Elf had tons of expressions and she felt confident in saying she had seen most of them. She had seen happy E-Elf, smug L-Elf, annoyed L-Elf, and even depressed L-Elf when he came back after the mission on Earth.

She had never seen him angry before.

Until now.

"Sashinami Shoko," he said, acknowledging her presence. She fought the urge to shiver. That voice was cold, too cold.

She should not be surprised. She deserved it.

"Three hours ago the operation to take Module 77 began," he said without waiting for an input on their side. He already knew what they wanted to know.

"The Valvraves engaged the combined ARUS/Dorissian forces to draw their attention. One hour later, Chancellor Amadeus was exposed to the world as a Magius. The enemy fell into disarray as planned, and Module 77 was successfully conquered."

For a moment everyone stared at him, unable or unwilling to understand what he had said. Their home. Module 77. Could it be?

It was back.

"We can go home again!"

The shout from a single student brought forth a wave of cheers all over the room. Under other circumstances, Shoko would have joined, but now she only had eyes for L-Elf.

"You can all return to Module 77," L-Elf said, his voice mercilessly cutting through the euphoria. "Provided you all swear loyalty to our new country."

What?

Confusion reigned over the room for an instant before protests and cries for explanations exploded.

"New JIOR is gone," L-Elf said. "The moment Module 77 was taken, the country ceased to exist. Most of its population is dead. You have no territory. You posses no military or political power. Right now, you're but country-less kids drifting through space."

"But, you took the Module back, didn't you?" Iori asked.

"Module 77 was not taken back by New JIOR," L-Elf said to the confusion of many. "Module 77 was taken by an independent force with the goal of obtaining territory for the creation of a new country. If you wish to enter Module 77 you have no choice but to swear loyalty to our country."

"Where is Haruto?" Shoko found herself asking, her voice rising above the protests of many.

Haruto would never do this. Even after all that had happened, he would never retaliate in this way. He would never take their country away. Not their school.

Not their home.

L-Elf's expression switched from controlled anger to barely retrained fury. Shoko flinched.

"Tokishima Haruto," He said, and his voice was wrong, because people should not sound like that. People should not carry so much pain and rage.

"Tokishima Haruto," L-Elf repeated, this time with greater control, "is dead."

What?

She blinked.

She had heard wrong. She must have. There was no way. He was immortal. She had seen it. Even a bullet to the heart could not kill him.

Haruto could not die.

He was… he was always there.

She sought out Satomi and Kibukawa-sensei, waiting for the moment when one of them would scold L-Elf for saying such a horrible thing. Satomi refused to meet her gaze. Kibukawa-sensei had no such problems.

"I am afraid it is true," he said. "Valvrave pilots Yamada Raizo and Tokishima Haruto fell in the line of duty."

What?

"I am sorry," he said.

Shoko broke.

She did not care about all the students surrounding her. She did not care about L-Elf and his demands. She did not care about their country. She did not care about being Prime Minister.

Her best friend, the man she loved, had died and the last thing she had done was call him a monster.

She fell to her knees and cried.

* * *

Tokishima Soichi was an odd man.

The man was without a doubt brilliant. Ask anyone who ever met him. From co-workers to university teachers, all would say the same thing. Tokishima Soichi was a genius. To call him anything less would be an insult. The impossible did not exist for him. The man was a visionary of the highest caliber.

Only… well, he was just a little odd, wasn't he?

Really odd.

It was the jokes. The way he so easily brought up human experimentation. They were jokes obviously. They had to be.

Right?

Morality was nothing more than a cute suggestion in Tokishima Soichi's book. When JIOR had asked him to lead the Valvrave project he had leaped at the chance. The possibilities were mind-boggling. Best of all, he did not have to worry about silly little things like international law.

It was terribly antiquated. How was science supposed to advance when the laws were so out of date?

The Valvrave project was a dream come true.

Except for the part where they wanted him to build weapons. Weapons! How short sighted could they be? What type of protozoa was he dealing with here?

The Valvrave project could be, would be so much more than a mere weapons protect. He was not making weapons. He was engineering the next step in human evolution.

He was building Gods.

Hi son was his greatest achievement in that regard. His DNA was just wonderful. He was the perfect candidate to become a Homo Sapiens Novus. He was an entity that would stand above the rest of the world. It was his destiny.

Thus, it came as no surprise to him to find out he was the pilot of Unit-1, and every successive victory the Valvraves had over Dorssia only reinforced the superiority of his creation.

His creations were the future.

Then he had been reunited with his son and things had gone south. The boy wanted to deny his destiny. He wanted to destroy the project.

Teenage rebellion. They had warned him about it.

At the end, he had been left behind, not that he had any intention of going back to JIOR. At least in Dorssia he could experiment as much as he wanted to.

Until they had thrown him into a cell, that is. As it turned out, being the only member left behind after a big rescue looked more than a little suspicious.

So Tokishima Soichi spend his days in a cell.

Until one day they took him out and threw him in a van. It was an odd ride. His rescuers were Dorssian. That was all he knew for sure. They had not bothered to even answer one of his questions.

Plus, they had put a blindfold on him. That was just rude. He estimated the ride had lasted at least four hours, which was sadly not really an indicator of distance.

Shadowy secret-keeping types were so annoying to deal with.

When the ride ended they led him out of the van. He could tell they were inside building now. Blindfolded he might be, but he could still tell the difference between outside air and inside air.

After leading him through many different doors, one of his rescuers roughly pushed him into a chair. The other took off his blindfold.

"My, you people really know how to treat an old man," Soichi said.

They ignored him and walked out of the room. Soichi took a moment to look at his new abode. The room was dark, especially with the door closed. He could barely see beyond arm's reach. However, he got the feeling this place was actually quite large.

"Dr. Tokishima Soichi," a voice spoke. Soichi easily recognized it came from a speaker. He was alone in the room them?

"That would be my name yes," he replied.

"You were the head researcher of the Valvrave Project," the voice said, almost as an accusation. Was the same voice or maybe a new one altered to sound the same? Technology could do wonders with voices.

"You have done your homework on me, I see. I must admit you have me at disadvantage," Soichi said. They knew who he was and what he had done. They had not killed him yet, which meant they had an interest in him.

"We are the Magius. That is all you need to know about us," the voice said.

Soichi nodded. A group then?

"Very well then, why have such esteemed people brought me here?" He asked with a smile.

"We have a proposition for you," the voice said.

Soichi was silent as he listened. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. By the time the explanation was finished his grin threatened to split his face in two.

"Oh, I do believe we are going to get along just fine," he said.

Ah, how good it felt to have a job again.

* * *

"And over here we have your lovely lab. Please note all the security guards around. Any funny business and you will be shot," the youth who had introduced himself as his bodyguard said as he continued the tour of the facilities.

"And here I thought they wanted me alive," Soichi said.

"Oh they do," the youth said. Soichi supposed he was a few years older than his son. "They will probably just maim you a little. Nothing vital. That's Magius hospitality for you."

Green eyes shined with mischief as he said this and Soichi was smart enough to read between the lines.

"So how did you land this wonderful job?" Soichi asked while checking the lab's equipment.

"Oh the usual, I knew a little too much," the youth said, earning a glare from one of the guards at the door. "Hey, just making conversation. The doctor is the only talking company I have had in weeks."

"Not the talking type, are they?" Soichi asked, looking at the guards.

"They are different from you and me. Raised from childhood to serve the Magius and all." There was something about the way he said it, an odd note different from his easy going cheer. Soichi made a mental note of it.

"Then why bother keeping you around," he said, uncaring of how that sounded. "If they already have soldiers, I doubt one more would make a difference."

The youth smiled.

"Well, I am really good at what I do," the youth bragged. "And the Magius aren't the type to waste perfectly good body. I figure at least one of them is planning to have a go at me. Can't blame them. It's the curse of being handsome."

"Jack," the doctor said. "Yes, I am familiar with the skill."

"Creepiest thing," the teenager said, nodding. "Despite all their powers their bodies age the same as everyone else's. They need to have these big ceremonies every so often to switch bodies."

Soichi hid a smile as he turned to one of the monitors. The Magius had told him much about what had transpired while he had been locked up, but he knew they had not told him everything and this latest piece of information proved it.

His creations were better.

Homo Sapiens Novus were eternally young and could easily take over other people without the need for preparation.

To think his creation had surpassed the real thing! Amusing, but not surprising. It was the way of science after all. The Magius thought outdated being such as them still held any relevance and for now he would let them think that.

The equipment they provided him more than covered his needs and their plans lined up with his well enough.

The fools wanted weapons. Weapons superior to the Valvraves. So powerful, yet just as short-sighted as JIOR. Pity.

He could do so much more than mere weapons.

The world would be shaken once more. He guaranteed it.

He just needed one more piece to begin, and luckily he knew just where to get it.

"Tell me something," he said, raising his voice up.

"How would you like to go out on a little errand for me, H-Neun?"

.

.

.

**Chapter End**

* * *

**AN: **Ah, I have always wanted to do the last word name reveal at least once.

Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this chapter. Honestly, I wanted to do a bit more, but I needed to get the Shoko stuff out of the way first. New JIOR is now dead and gone. Kind of. Was anyone surprised? Shoko is no longer Prime Minister and all those government position the student had are now meaningless.

There is only L-Elf now.

Take your time to leave a review. Feedback is always good.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimed: Valvrave is not owned by me.

* * *

In the end there wasn't much of a choice to make.

Sure, they had told each student they could choose. They had the right to decide whether they wanted to pledge loyalty to the new country or not. Everyone was free to decline L-Elf's offer.

If they wanted to die, that is.

Their ship held many wounded and their medical supplies would not last long. Some of the students needed real medical facilities. Not necessarily a doctor, but a few packets of blood for transfusions at least. They could not remain on the ship, but they had nowhere else to go.

Regardless of the broadcast, many people were still bound to believe they were monsters.

There was no guarantee they wouldn't be attacked, if they tried asking help from other countries.

Their choice was made from the beginning. Everyone had accepted L-Elf's terms. Just as he knew they would. In one move he had removed what was left of the old government and secured power over the Module. It had been cold and utterly ruthless.

Just like L-Elf.

No, just like L-Elf when there was not someone around to soften his harsher tendencies.

Like Haruto.

Shoko shook her head. No, there was no time. She had cried enough. She had to look for L-Elf. She had to find him.

She needed to know where he had put the body.

Shoko shivered. She couldn't even stand the thought. Body. Thinking of Haruto like that was … _wrong_. It was wrong in ways she could not even begin to explain, and if she tried she had a feeling she would end up crying again.

So, Shoko put on a brave face, took a step forward…. and immediately ran into a familiar face.

"Akira-chan?" The words left her mouth before she could stop herself.

Of course, she would run into her. Currently all the students were in the lower levels of the Module. If Shoko's hunch was right, they were right beneath Sakimori Academy. Regardless of how much, she wanted to see her home again, it was better this way.

Blood did not come off so easily.

With all the students in a relatively small area, running into Akira made… sense?

Shoko blinked. Her brain started working.

Akira. Outside. Akira walking outside. No bags. No box. No blushing. Just Akira. Outside. Like a normal person.

Shoko felt a burst of pride and for a moment she wanted to hug the other girl. She did not. Could not. She was at loss of how to act around the girl after everything that had happened.

After everything she had done.

Akira had no such problems.

"Sashinami-san," she said. "Do you mind?"

Eh?

Sashinami…san?

"You're blocking the way," the redhead repeated with such coldness Shoko found herself doing what she asked.

Not bothering to say anything else, Akira made her way past Shoko. She did not look back even once. She did not glare or shout at her.

She had barely acknowledged her. As if she was a stranger now.

Shoko stared at Akira's retreating back. If she followed Akira, she could probably find L-Elf. Yes, she just needed to walk behind Akira or maybe even alongside her. She raised her arm to call out to her, but…

But.

The distance was way too big.

* * *

In President Anderson's experience, good things rarely came alone.

For that reason, the differences between good situations and bad ones were less than people may think. A life of politics had taught him that. When good happened, you always needed to be prepared for the bad. When bad things happened, you needed to be ready to take advantage of the opportunity.

It was basic politics.

"Mister President, over here please," one of his aides said while leading him to the improvised stage they had built on the ship. The president had to admit they had done a good job. The podium looked elegant enough and the flag behind it was the appropriate size for the event.

The cameras were ready and waiting to transmit his words to every citizen in ARUS.

His ship had not reached Earth yet, but this was a necessity.

The kids from Module 77 had changed the game. For the first time, the Magius were exposed.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't happy about it. On the surface the Council of the 101 was an organization of Magius and influential, powerful humans who led the world. That description could not be further from the truth.

The Council of the 101 was made by Magius for Magius. People considered him one of the most powerful men in the world, but at the end of the day he was but a slave to the Magius.

It galled him. It infuriated him. It terrified him.

Magius were monsters. They watched from the shadows. They had eyes and ears everywhere. You could never be sure if the person you were talking was actually one of them.

He could not fight them. They were too well hidden for that.

Until now.

The kids had shined the spotlight on them. Unfortunately, they had shined that light on him as well. If his dealings with the Magius became known, he would be in danger. That was why he could not afford to miss an opportunity like this.

With heavy steps he made his way to the podium.

"Are you ready Mister President?" his aide asked. President Jeffrey Anderson nodded.

"Alright, you're live in five, four, three, two, one..."

"Citizens of ARUS," he said. His voice was clear; his expression, resolute. There was no turning back now.

"You have no doubt seen many things in the past hours. You have heard rumors. You have discovered many things that changed our basic understanding of the world around us. You are confused. You have a hard time telling myth from truth," he said. "I come here to you today to dispel all doubts."

He took a deep breath. This was it.

"The Magius are real."

Even in the confines of the room, he could feel the tension triple.

"I saw with my own eyes as Chancellor Amadeus was mortally wounded," He went on. "I saw how he healed in a way no human ever could. What I have witnessed can be interpreted in no other way. Chancellor Amadeus was not human!"

He paused for a moment. He needed to let the gravity of that statement sink in.

"I know not what went through his mind when he revealed his fellow non-humans," he went on. It would not do for the people to forget about Module 77 or their non-human status. "I cannot understand his reasons or motives."

"I only know he betrayed us all!" He said, adding just the right amount of righteous indignation in his voice. "For a moment, I dared to hope our two nations would achieve peace. I do not hate Dorssia and I held nothing but respect for Chancellor Amadeus. I thought he was a man of great qualities and believed that had circumstances been kinder I would have been proud to call him my friend."

He cast his gaze down for an instant. He needed them to feel it. The indignation. The anger. The promise of peace followed by betrayal.

After that, it was just a matter of directing it toward a proper target.

"Amadeus lied to us. His offer of peace was nothing but deceit and manipulation for his own ends. The Class 7 Dangerous Lifeforms… the Magius have done nothing but manipulate us all! Citizens of ARUS hear me! We must band together. We must root them out and expose them. Together we can end their reign!"

"But," the President said, his voice softer now. "I understand some of you may doubt me. I am aware of some of the rumors floating around. But know this, I am human and I intend to prove it right now."

He reached out his hand to his aide. Even though they had planned this, the man was still nervous as he put a knife on the president's hand.

President Anderson did not hesitate. In one swift move, he stabbed his own hand. White hot pain lit up every nerve on his hand. His teeth sank into the inside of his cheek. He could not afford to break down here. Not one cry of pain. Not one single tear.

"Look," he shouted, presenting his wound after taking out the knife. "My blood is as red as yours. My wounds heal just as slowly and they hurt just as much. But this pain is nothing if it allows me to regain your trust! Join me, citizens! Let us work together and humanity will prevail!"

With that final message, the broadcast ended. Tremendous applause exploded all over the room even as the ship's doctor started to treat his wound.

"That was fantastic Mister President," his aide said.

The President smiled.

"It is good to know I still have it in me," he said, before handling the knife back to his aide. "Now it is your turn."

His aide looked at the knife.

"Sir?"

"Cut yourself," the president ordered, voice cold. "And once we are certain you are human, we will go through the rest of the crew."

He had learned from Amadeus' failure. No Magius was going to sneak on him.

This was an opportunity and he was not going to let anything ruin it.

* * *

As a rule, Saki did not trust adults.

Abusive parents had put a big dent in her ability to trust others and show business had taken care of the rest. People were self-centered and self-serving. They will be nice to you while they can get something out of it, and then throw you away like a used cloth. That was the absolute truth.

Rukino Saki was a very cynical young girl.

Even so, she had not quite expected this level of shamelessness from ARUS's president.

"He's really laying it on think, isn't he?" She said to no one in particular.

They were in a small conference room. Previously, it had been used by scientists of the Valvrave project. Now, the closest thing they had to a government was gathered here.

L-Elf, as their de facto leader, was at the head of the table. Satomi and Kibukawa-sensei each had seats, and it went without saying she and Akira were there. After all they were…

Saki's hand clenched into a fist.

…the only remaining Valvrave pilots.

"It was a necessary move on his part," L-Elf said, saving Saki from getting lost in her thoughts.

On L-Elf's orders, Akira had leaked a list of potential members of the Council of the 101 into the internet. Thanks to her hacking skills, the list had already found its way to every major social network and news site.

The list had included the President's name.

"True," Kibukawa-sense said. "The way things are, he needed to regain the trust of the people even by a little. As things are now, they would crucify him if his dealings with the Magius to come to light."

And not necessarily in a metaphorical way.

"And while at it, he stirs up the Anti-Magius Sentiment even more," Saki added. She understood that much. He had put a nice little target on all things non-human. "He might as well have told them to riot."

The world was shameless.

Satomi slammed his hands on the table. "Should we really be talking so calmly about this? Shouldn't we do something about it? After all, we were the ones who exposed the Magius to the world!"

An uncomfortable look flashed through mostly everyone's faces. It had been the only way to grasp victory against the combined might of Dorssia and ARUS. They had exposed the truth of the world.

In doing so, they may have started a world-wide witch hunt.

"Who knows how many riots are happening right now," Satomi said, looking down while running a hand through his hair.

"Twenty seven," Akira said, not looking up from her computer's screen. Her fingers typed away with lightning speed. "There have been twenty seven major riots worldwide. Smaller riots number over a hundred. That's without counting Dorssia, which is entering a civil war."

The Royalists did not waste time.

"Speaking of Dorssia," Saki said, cutting off whatever Satomi was about say. "What is he doing here?"

The others followed her pointed finger to the final occupant on the room. Said occupant stared back at them, unflinching.

"My goal is to liberate Dorssia." A-Drei did not say more. It was clear he believed that was enough of an explanation.

Saki raised an eyebrow. Clad in his Dorssian uniform A-Drei could not have looked more out of place. While Saki bore no grudge against him, she had to admit the way he could pretend there was nothing wrong with him standing there in spite of the many times he had attacked them was almost admirable.

Almost.

"Shouldn't you have stuck with the Royalists then?" Saki asked the obvious question first.

"Our goals do not necessarily coincide," A-Drei replied. "Staying here provides me with greater odds of success."

A self-serving goal. As good as excuse as any, but Saki knew better. The quick and furtive way his gaze darted towards L-Elf every now and then was not something she had missed. She allowed a small smirk to grace her features and gave him a knowing look.

A-Drei refused to acknowledge the look, though his cheeks gained a reddish tint the next time he laid eyes on L-Elf.

Saki fought the urge to chuckle. Obvious. He was way too obvious.

"A-Drei will serve as our liaison to the Royalists," L-Elf said, settling the matter once and for all. "Our alliance with them has benefited us in the past and it shall continue to do so."

The official reason. Not that anyone in the room had any intention of throwing A-Drei out of the Module. As they were, all extra hands were welcomed.

"Wait!" Satomi finally had enough of being ignored. "Aren't we moving away from the main point? What should we do about the mass panic?"

"Renbokoji Satomi," L-Elf said, before anyone else could answer. "What do you think we should do?"

"Eh?" The teenager looked at loss, not having expected to be put on the spot. "Well… I… the Valvraves-"

"Kibukawa," L-Elf said. "Enlighten us as to the status of the five Valvraves."

The older man sighed.

"We have successfully recovered what was left of Unit III and V, which is not much. They are little more than junk parts at this point. The engines are usable, but we'll have to build the rest from scratch. Unit IV is in dire need of repairs. Only Unit I and Unit VI are combat capable right now and Unit I…"

He did not finish.

He did not have to.

There was no pilot for Unit I.

Satomi leaned back on his chair, the fight taken out of him by the reality of their situation. They barely had any military power. If any country chose to attack them right now, they wouldn't make it.

"I have taken some steps to remedy this situation," L-Elf said. "The Royalists have agreed to give us 10 Kirschbaums. They should be delivered in the coming weeks. A-Drei, you will be in charge of coordinating the delivery."

Everyone stared.

"How…? When?" Saki took a deep breath. "You know what? I don't want to know."

"We'll need pilots," Kibukawa said.

"I don't think we'll have trouble finding volunteers," L-Elf said, and there was something in his smile that made Saki want to punch him. Of course, there would be volunteers. There was not a single person in the Module who had not lost someone.

Angry teenagers with revenge in mind. Easy to exploit and manipulate.

"In any case, the selection process can wait for now," L-Elf said.

"And what about the selection for Unit I's pilot."

Let it never be said Kibukawa shied away from uncomfortable subjects.

"The matter can be discussed at a later date," L-Elf said and his voice made it clear it was not a suggestion.

Kibukawa would not be deterred.

"It can't. The Valvraves need runes. Unit 1 and its pilot are the main providers. While the reduced number of units is bound to make the upkeep cost less, Runes are still a finite resource. If no new pilot is chosen, our main military assets will become useless."

It was the truth and Saki hated it.

Seeking a replacement pilot was the logical thing. Of course it was. However, Saki was certain she would never be able to accept someone else sitting in the cockpit.

The thought of anyone trying to take Haruto's place galled her. Who did they think they were? How dare they treat him like a replaceable part?

She knew Kibukawa meant well but she had never been angrier at him.

A feeling L-Elf shared.

"The matter will be discussed at a later date," He repeated. If looks could kill, Kibukawa would already be 6 feet under, provided L-Elf didn't decide to burn the body and throw it into space first.

Kibukawa sighed, but nodded. It was obvious he was going to make no headway on this matter today.

"Renbokoji Satomi," L-Elf said, moving on to the next item on the agenda. "How are the students?"

Satomi was a bit startled at being addressed directly, but managed to recover. "Eh, yes. We have some wounded, but they are all able stable. Kibukawa-sensei already treated the worst of the lot. Takahi and Otamaya have the rest under control."

Well, more like Takahi had things under control and Otamaya was doing whatever she told him to do. The purple-headed otaku was more at home with machines than with people.

"Good, we have enough places for them sleep, but we'll need to move them to the dorms eventually. Arrange for a clean-up crew as soon as possible."

Satomi paled a bit. Clean up crew. A nice way of saying he had to find people willing to clean up all the dead bodies on the school.

"Y-yes."

"I'll help," Saki said raising her hand.

"Me too," added Akira.

Satomi shot a thankful look to the two, but made a mental note to try to get Akira to change her mind while they were alone.

His sister should not be around corpses.

"Renbokoji Akira," L-Elf said, moving to the next item. "Have you found the accounts I asked for?"

The girl nodded. "Most of them have been taken by ARUS' corporations. Their security is good, but I should be able to take care of it with Unit VI's system."

Bank accounts. JIOR had lost more than territory during Dorssia's takeover. Many people had lost their lives. Some of them poor and some of them quite rich.

This had resulted in quite a few bank accounts and other financial assets without a legitimate owner. ARUS had not been slow to act. Many of JIOR's financial assets had been taken over by ARUS under the pretense of safe-keeping. While they had depended on ARUS' aid, this had been a tolerable situation.

With the world in chaos, they could afford to take some liberties.

"Only take 10% of the biggest ones," L-Elf said, shaking his head. "Emptying the accounts would be too noticeable. Siphon the money over the next two weeks. We cannot afford to let our funds run low right now."

Satomi raised a hand. "Is this really okay? I mean, this is theft no matter how you look at it."

"So I'm a thief?"

Confronted with his sister's frowning face, Satomi panicked. "Ah, n-no. Onii-chan didn't mean to say that. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

The girl turned her head away, but it was obvious her heart wasn't in it. At least to Saki. Satomi was two steps from prostrating before her. A-Drei scoffed and turned to the side.

This had been the group of people that repelled all their attacks?

In true, A-Drei fashion, he decided to take it as a testament to L-Elf's great skills, rather than any flaw on his part.

"If you are quite done," L-Elf said, ending the Sibling Comedy Theater. "JIOR's assets were stolen away by Dorssia and ARUS. We're merely recovering them."

"So we're JIOR now?" Saki teased. L-Elf's explanation might hold water if they were the old JIOR, but they had declared themselves as an entirely new nation.

"The name could prove useful in the future," L-Elf said, allowing himself a satisfied smile. "I see no reason to discard it yet."

L-Elf checked his watch.

"That will be all for today," he said. "I expect all of you at 6:00 am tomorrow."

Inwardly, Saki groaned.

She had little problems with letting L-Elf run the country, but why did he have to make all the meetings so damn early?

* * *

H-Neun did not like Magius.

There were a number of reasons for this, most prominent among them the stupid device they had planted on his back.

Cain had knocked him out that night. With embarrassing ease even. He hated that man.

He had woken up in a dark room with a bruised ego and one hell of an aching back. That thing was already there. The device had burrowed into his flesh, making it impossible to take out.

A voice had explained how things were going to work from that point on. It had said many things. Many of which he did not quite understand.

What the hell were Runes anyway?

Understanding had come later. They locked him in a cell and gave the bare minimum to live. He had not taken the food. Who knew what drugs they had put there?

After two days he could barely walk.

It did not make sense. His body should not be this weak! He was trained in the harshest conditions. He had gone for more than a week without food in the middle of hostile territory. Two days in a cell were nothing. They shouldn't have been, yet his body ached worse than the time Cain had chosen him as a sparring partner.

They had explained. The thing on his back drained his body's Runes or whatever. They had put him in a machine after that.

It had been his first Rune Injection. It was like the oxygen he never noticed he needed until he lost it. He had been refreshed, reenergized.

Alive.

They had let wander out of the cell after that, and H-Neun understood why.

He couldn't run away. Whatever the device on his back way, it was draining his body of something. Trying to run away was a death sentence. He had timed it, decided to see how long he could last.

Three days were the limit.

He could remain functional for one day without Runes. By the second day, he had trouble walking. By the third, he might as well be a corpse.

H-Neun was trapped.

Then there were those soldiers of theirs walking around the base. It would not be so bad, if they all didn't have even less of a personality than L-Elf. He was going to die of boredom at this rate, surrounded by stone faced, all work no fun soldiers.

H-Neun was starting to see just what Cain had in mind when he made all those modifications to the Karlstein Institute.

Damn, Magius.

Worse, there was not a single female around. Not that the Dorssian military was swimming in females, but at least it had Kriemhild.

As far as H-Neun was concerned that was all the woman anyone needed.

But he had none of that here. He was trapped, bound, and turned into a servant. H-Neun had many reasons to dislike the Magius.

He would say one good thing of them though.

Cloaking tech? Awesome.

They could have definitely used that technology during the war. He could already see the possibilities. Slap it on a battleship and watch your enemy go boom.

Or, equip it on a humble Splicer and sneak into the enemy stronghold.

Kind of like he was doing now.

He would have preferred an IDEAL or even a Waffe. Splicers were just so… ARUS (ugh), but that was the point. It was hardly the first time H-Neun used equipment associated with another country for a stealth operation.

And really, if he stayed any longer at that base he was going to go crazy. He really had to thank Dr. Tokishima for this little "road trip".

When the doctor told him what he needed to do, H-Neun had thought he was joking. He had to be. There was no way he was going to convince the Magius to let him out.

A few hours later, he was on the cockpit of a Splicer after receiving a Rune Injection. Supposedly, this one would last longer than usual.

Now if only the damn trip could be over already. How many hours had it been now?

He was starting to appreciate Q-Vier's habit of always carrying a handheld console with him. Why couldn't his target had been on Earth? At least that way he could have something to look at. As it was, the darkness of space was his only company.

God, he missed his squad.

Even the annoying, little psychopath.

Had they cried for him?

Had Kriemhild cried for him?

Probably not.

H-Neun shook his head. No way. He was not about to get sentimental. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Once he escaped, that is.

A proximity alarm made him look at his controls. His face lit up with a grin.

There is was.

"Isn't that a sight for sore eyes?" H-Neun said to himself.

Module 77.

.

.

.

* * *

AN: And done. Faster than I thought too.

Did not mean to start with more Shoko suffering, but it ended up working that way. Akira can really hold a grudge.

Surprised to see A-Drei in Module 77? The guy is not going to let L-Elf out of his sight if he has any say in it here.

BFFs and all that.

I didn't plan for the President's scene to take so much time. Dirty politicians steal even time. In the anime, this guy was scared to death of the Magius, but at the end it seems like he's going to take advantage of the chaos. You're seeing some of that here.

He's not exactly an ally though. Far from it really.

The meeting scene was tough. Not used to writing so many characters in one room, but I did manage to do everything I wanted. Of course, L-Elf can get 10 giant robots off-screen. He's hilariously competent like that.

Next time: The remaining Karlstein boys in one Module? Class reunion? Maybe. Maybe not.

Probably not.

You can certainly expect H-Neun action though.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Before I begin this. I have replied to some reviews on my livejournal account. I have put the address on my profile in case you're interested.

Disclaimer: I don't own Valvrave.

* * *

H-Neun sighed while running a hand through his hair. Getting inside the Module had been the easy part. The stealth system installed by the Magius was one technological wonder. With it a humble Splicer had been turned into a weapon invisible to sight and radars.

When combined with his not insignificant infiltration skills getting inside the Module had been pathetically easy.

After leaving the still invisible Splicer in a safe place, H-Neun had made his way into the city.

The place was a ghost town.

It was not the first deserted city H-Neun had been in.

It was not even the first deserted city he had a hand in making. Still, he was almost glad when his search took him to the lower levels, away from the abandoned streets and houses.

Now, if he could only find what he was looking for.

He knew L-Elf. He was proud to say he was among the few people who actually understood how that brilliant head worked. H-Neun had gone through all the usual places where his silver-haired ex-teammate could have hidden it.

During his search, he had found a set of clothes to blend in better and even a handheld video game (he was not going through hours of boredom again during the return trip).

Yet there was not a single hint of what he was after.

And that was wrong.

Because L-Elf did not do that. Practical and utilitarian to his dying breath. That was L-Elf. A much needed counterbalance to X-Ein's love for aesthetics, A-Drei's traditional tendencies and Q-Vier's… enthusiasm.

He had gone through the usual spots; the practical spots where L-Elf would keep the sample before moving it to a lab. He had come up with nothing. That was bad. It meant L-Elf was keeping the sample closer to his person than expected. Something he would not do unless it was extremely important or… unless he cared.

H-Neun smiled.

Had that grouch actually made a friend?

L-Elf never ran out of surprises, did he?

Still, this… required a slight change in strategy. Come to think of it, it might work out better than planned. H-Neun grinned as he took out a cell phone and dialed a number. He heard the phone ring four times before someone picked up.

"Heloo!" He called out in a voice that was entirely too cheerful to be real.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hissed a voice from the other side. "Do you realize what you could have done just now?!"

"Well, I was thinking a contact is meant to be used. Come on, lighten up," H-Neun said, smiling. "Lesson one of stealth ops: People have more important things to do than to look at you."

"This line is for emergencies only!" The same voice hissed.

H-Neun shrugged.

"I guess you don't want to get your hands on the samples then. Oh well, I'll be sure to report how helpful you have been."

H-Neun smiled as the other side went silent. All too easy. One, two, and…

"Hold it!" The voice growled out. "What do you want?"

"Oh, come on. There is no need for that tone of voice. I'm doing you a favor. You're gonna be a big hero when it is all said and done," H-Neun said, grinning. "You're gonna get that sample all by yourself."

H-Neun's smile could not be called anything other than predatory.

"Now, here's what you are going to do."

* * *

Her name was Ohta Nao.

If any of her classmates was asked to describe her, the world beautiful would no doubt be included somewhere and with good reason. It was not just her long hair, pure white skin, or curvy figure. Rather each enhanced the other for an overall striking impression.

Ohta Nao was a beautiful girl.

It was a fact she acknowledged and accepted. She knew girls would flock to her and guys would want to be with her. No matter the age, beauty and popularity went hand in hand.

If only she could enjoy it.

Nao was… bored would not be the right word for it. Being bored implied there was nothing she wanted to do, which could not be further from the truth. Nao was desperate to do something. Even as her classmates flocked to her, she could not help but be jealous of them.

During lunch the girls would sometimes talk about their plans for the future. Some wanted to be wives, others idols or movie stars, while a few had more realistic career choices. Regardless, the fact was all them at least had something they wanted to do.

They were passionate about something.

Nao envied them from the depths of her heart. Try as she might, she could not think of something she was passionate about. That was the gap between her and everyone else.

They lived. She just existed.

When Sashinami Shoko made the speech that won her the election for Prime Minister, Nao could not help but feel removed from the whole affair. Dreams? Hopes? Desires?

She had none.

Nao yearned for something to shoot for. High school would not last forever. Soon, she would be expected to join the adult world, yet she still did not know what her place was.

Ohta Nao was a lost girl.

Stumbling upon the cockpit of the Kagerou was the best things that happened to her. Once the initial confusion and fear had worn off, she was happy. This was new. This was interesting. This was something she could do.

L-Elf had taken control after that and cut many of the delusions brewing in her head. In a completely unilateral decision, he had made placed Jin and her under his command (and only under his command), a secret from everyone else.

Her secret.

It last only a few months, but she had never felt so alive. Each mission was frightening, but underneath it all there was excitement. For the first time, she was doing something with her life. At long last, her actions had meaning.

Then that fated broadcast happened. She remembered the shock. Seen someone heal from a wound like that was like something out of a movie. Had anyone else known about it? Had L-Elf?

ARUS struck, quickly and mercilessly. It could not be anything but premeditated.

They had lost so many during the attack. More students had died at the hands of ARUS' soldiers than in any of the Dorssian attacks.

Jin didn't make it.

Jin was… Jin was… Honestly, just what had been her relationship with him? At the beginning, he had been annoying. He was brash, rude, and too full of himself. That had been her first impression of her "partner".

When did that change?

When did she start looking forward to the time they spent together?

When did she start to trust him?

When did they become friends?

They were both stuck working under L-Elf. Jin was the only one she could confide in. No one else knew. There was no one else she could share what they did with.

L-Elf had a way of convincing people.

Jin became her closest friend and confidante. They were partners.

That too was gone now. She was alive and Jin was not. She was back to where she started. The Kagerou were gone. Her friend was gone. Her country was gone.

She had less than what she started with.

What was the point? What was she supposed to do? People admired her? What a joke that seemed now. All she had was a meaningless existence.

It was these dark thoughts that led her away from the rest of the students. She could not bear to be with them. She could not belong with them. She wandered aimlessly through the dark corridors of the underground labs, a fitting metaphor for her life.

"Ah excuse me."

The voice snapped her into attention. It was a voice full of life and energy and its owner looked the part. A handsome face with a winning smile came into her view. Under other circumstances she would find him attractive. Now, she felt his good mood as a personal affront.

"Hi there," the young man said. "Sorry, I think I'm a little lost. It's almost embarrassing to ask this, but is there any chance you could point me to the nearest restroom."

"Just keep walking in that direction. You'll find it," Nao said, pointing to where she had come from. Truthfully, she had not paid much attention to where she was going, and did not know if man would actually find anything there. She just did not want to spend time with others right now.

Especially not someone in such an obviously good mood like this… student?

"You are not a student?" Nao blurted out.

The youth blinked. "I'm pretty sure I am. Can't say we have talked before, but I have at least seen you around. Guess my looks don't make as much as impression as I hoped."

"They do," Nao replied. "There were less than 500 students when this all began. Right now? The number is not even close to a hundred. I cannot say I know all of them by name, but I would have at definitely remembered someone like you."

The person in front of her was too handsome not to be popular.

Beauty and popularity went hand in hand. Nao knew that lesson by heart.

For a moment, the man just smiled, yet there was something dangerous beneath it. The air became thick with tension, each side just waiting for the right time.

Nao chose to act first. The second year student bolted, hoping to warn the others of the intruder.

She did not get very far.

The intruder caught up to her with casual ease. A hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. In an instant, Nao was pinned against the wall.

"Good show," H-Neun said. "I would feel somewhat guilty if you were not at least this good."

The many insults Nao thought up to reply were stopped cold when he put a gun to her head.

H-Neun smiled.

"I am not usually this bold, but how about a date?"

* * *

Renbokoji Akira's fingers typed away with lightning speed. Her opposition was one of the biggest private banks in ARUS. Their security systems were among the best money could buy. Only the military possessed better security.

Even for skilled hackers, this system represented challenge. One wrong move would mean the end. The possibility of jail time was all too real when going up against this level of security.

Akira had made it all the way inside with bored ease.

It was unfair really. Her hacking skills were considerable enough to begin with, but the addition of Unit 6 had catapulted her to an entirely new level.

Hacking using Unite 6 was different than regular hacking. There were similarities to be sure, much in the same way a square and a cube were similar, but one was just so much more.

It was the effect of Runes. Unit 6's system could interact with the very particles of information. Compared to that, state of the art security systems barely offered more protection than a paper bag. If this were race, her opposition would be a bunch of babies that could barely crawl going up against her Formula One racing car.

It was that much of a difference.

She could rob the entire bank blind if she so wished. However, she understood what L-Elf meant. They were not in a situation where they could afford to draw too much attention. The chaos that had taken hold of the world allowed them some freedom of action, but if something that would draw the attention of the world back to them were to happen…

Module 77 would not survive such a confrontation. Not as it was right now.

So, Akira went about her assigned work calmly and methodically. Even if her pride as a hacker was injured for using such an unfair item, she kept on going. This was what she could do for their country.

"You can take a break, you know?"

"Gah!"

Akira had been so focused on her work that she did not notice when Saki entered Unit-6's cockpit. The poor girl sputtered and fell off her seat.

Saki did not laugh, not because she did not want to but rather because she had the necessary acting skills to keep a mask of politeness over her face.

"I thought you had a few weeks to take care of it," Saki said, offering her hand.

Akira stared at the offered limb for a moment before taking it.

"There is nothing wrong with getting a head-start," she said only after making sure she went over the sentence a couple of times in her head.

She was not the girl who could only speak in words and incomplete phrases anymore. She was not the girl who… Akira shook her head. There was no sense in thinking of _her_ anymore.

Saki frowned.

"Even so, you will overwork yourself if you do too much. Kamitsuki or not, we get tired just the same as any human."

Akira frowned. She was never quite sure how to deal with Saki. It was not that she did not like Saki, but she could not help but feel slightly awkward around the idol. The reason was rather simple

Saki was younger than her. By one full year.

So how come she got to act the part of the older sister?

If anyone should get the older sister role, it should obviously be her!

Sadly, Akira's little sister parameters were just too strong. No, it was more than that. Akira felt a tiny bit of resentment rising up in her as her eyes took in Saki's appearance, more precisely her curves.

If asked about the ages of the girls, any strangers would say Saki was the older one without a doubt.

It wasn't like Akira was jealous Saki was more developed!

Really.

Breasts were useless anyway. Useless!

Regardless, Saki's concern was valid, and Akira appreciated her concern.

But Saki did not understand. She couldn't.

Unit 6 was the only Valvrave they could use right now. It was not just a matter of Unit 6 being the only unit capable of performing in combat. The current state of their country was not one that could afford military action.

But Unit 6 could hack. With Unit 6 she could steal resources, investigate, and manipulate the information in the web.

Unit 6 was the only offensive weapon they could afford to use.

She was the only attacker they had.

The responsibility was hers and she could not let anyone down. Not after everything. Not after Haruto… after Yamada…

Akira shook her head.

"Unit six. Only offense…" Akira paused as her words became jumbled. She felt a flash of irritation at her speech patterns. "Unit six is our only weapon right now. I have to do my part."

A sad look crossed Saki's face.

"You don't have to force it," the girl said, and Akira understood she was talking about more than the hacking.

"I can handle it," Akira replied. Really. She could.

She was not a weak, little girl who couldn't show her face anymore. She wasn't… she wasn't the girl Shoko had found in a cardboard fortress.

Shoko.

Shoko who befriended her, who had breezed past all her defenses and inserted herself into her life. Before Akira had known it, she had started looking forward to her visits.

Shoko was nice. Shoko was not like the people who had bullied her.

Shoko was her friend.

With Shoko at her side, she could do it. She could try new things. She could go outside. She could be strong.

She could be strong for Shoko. She was the Valvrave pilot and Shoko was the Prime Minister. She could fight to protect Shoko.

Her friend.

Her friend had called her a monster.

Her friend had betrayed her. In the end, she was just like all the other people who bullied her. Had she planned all from the start? Gained her trust and got her to open up only to cruelly break her?

Of course she hadn't. Akira knew that much, regardless of what the darkest parts of her mind dared to think.

It was not a premeditated evil.

It was just a regular betrayal.

So bet it. Shoko betrayed her? Fine. If Shoko did not need her, then she did not need Shoko. Renbokoji Akira was not weak.

She was strong. She would be strong. For everyone. For the sake of a place where she could belong, a place where people would not betray her.

She was not a weak girl Shoko could play with any longer.

"Ah, so it is about Shoko-san," Saki said, and only then did Akira realize she had mumbled a few of the words.

Something dark flashed through Saki's eyes when she said Shoko's name and Akira fought the urge to flinch. In spite of her feelings for Shoko, for a moment, Akira was scared for her.

Then it was gone and in Saki's face there was only a picture perfect smile.

"So have you thought who you are going to feed on?" Saki asked, while leaning against the pilot's seat.

"Huh?" Akira could not be blamed. She had expected Saki to continue trying to convince her to take it easy.

Which was exactly why Saki had switched subjects. There was always more than one way to get others to do what you wanted.

"We are eventually going to need to feed on someone to keep going," Saki explained. It was true, while their bodies' demands for Rune would never be as high as Haruto's, the girls could not be expected to go without feeding forever.

In time, they would need to feed.

But…

It was just too embarrassing to talk about! Already, a blush had taken hold of Akira's cheeks.

"Of course." Saki brought her hands together as if she had just realized something. "You can feed on your brother. He wouldn't mind. Lucky you."

"No!"

Akira's face went beet red. Sure, he had offered, but… doing that with him… No.

Just no.

Saki smiled.

"So you don't mind if I take a bite out of him then?" Saki teased her.

"Gah!"

Steam was coming out of her ears. If she left onii-chan alone with Saki… Akira shook her head.

Eaten.

Her brother would get eaten!

"D-d-denied! Fo-forbidden!" The girl spluttered.

Saki faked a pout. "Stingy. It is not like you are using him."

In her mind, Saki was congratulating herself on a job well done. Trying to force Akira to take it easy wouldn't have worked. Distracting her like this had yielded better results than she had hoped for.

Now she just had to keep it up until the girl forgot what she was supposed to do.

Something, she would have succeeded with had the alarms not chosen that moment to ring throughout the place.

"Akira!"

"On it," the girl replied, back on her seat and already typing away. "Lower levels. Intruder alert. It comes from… "

The girl paused for a moment. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not seeing things. She wasn't.

"Unit 1," Akira said, eyes widening.

This was bad.

* * *

Unit 1 was remarkably unprotected. H-Neun had almost thought it was a trap. It had to be. L-Elf would never be so foolish as to leave something so important so… alone.

Unit 1 had been placed in an entirely different holding place from the rest of the Valvraves. Furthermore, there was no one around to keep watch. There were not even mechanics! It was like they had dropped the robot in the first place they could find after the battle.

Coming from L-Elf this was an oversight that bordered on obscene. It was unthinkable… except… Except, it made all too much sense if H-Neun's hypothesis was right.

Just how much had that guy meant to him?

H-Neun did not allow himself to contemplate the question for long. He shrugged and jumped into the cockpit with his bound and tied prisoner.

Pino blinked as she saw the two teenagers enter the cockpit. A handsome young male and a handcuffed, gagged, struggling female.

"This is…" Pino's face scrunched in thought. "This is definitely sex, right?"

H-Neun chuckled even as Nao's struggles grew fiercer.

"You," a new voice spoke. Another face appeared in the Valvrave's screen. He was male unlike Pino and his hair was blue as opposed to blonde, yet there was something undeniably similar about the two.

"I remember you," Prue said, his eyes fixed on H-Neun.

"Is he a friend of brother?" Pino asked.

"Oh, I very much doubt we have met," H-Neun replied with an easy smile, even as his hand made its way to one of his pockets. "I'd say you have me confused with someone else, but I really hate the idea there is some out there with looks as good as mine."

"No," Prue said. "That night. You were there."

H-Neun struck before the blue-haired man could go any further. He drew a small, harmless looking cylindrical device from his pocket and stabbed it into the controls.

Green light filled the cockpit.

Nao could only stared in amazement. Perhaps for the first time, Pino and Prue screamed as pain flooded their systems. It was only through sheer force of will that Pino managed to trigger an alert before losing consciousness.

Alarms filled the air.

"Well, there goes the element of surprise," H-Neun mused out loud. He did not seem bothered by it.

The Dorssian held the small cylindrical device in front of him. While before it had been grey and dull, now the light of Runes shone brightly through it.

One down.

He turned to Nao.

"I guess we really need to put on a show now."

* * *

Akira and Saki were not the first to arrive. They would arrive minutes later only to find a knocked out Prue and Pino. The first person to arrive at the scene was not a student. It was not even L-Elf.

It was A-Drei.

He happened to be close by when the alarm went off. Training took over and he was soon running towards the source. He had not arrived in time to see the perpetrator, but he was a good tracker. Even with only one eye, he could see the clues left behind.

Making sure to leave the path marked for L-Elf, A-Drei chased after the intruder. It came as a surprise to him when the path took him to the city. A proper exit route should have led to the hangars. Nevertheless, he kept going, making sure to watch out for any possible traps.

He did not need to have bothered. His path was clear. It was an invitation and his host stood ready for him in the middle of one of the city's empty streets.

"Long time no see, little prince," H-Neun said, his gun pointed not at A-Drei but rather at the girl he kept as a hostage. He held Nao in front of him, blocking most of his body from view. The feel of a gun against her head had temporarily paralyzed the poor girl.

"H-Neun," A-Drei breathed out. To his credit the slight widening of his eye was the only thing that betrayed the shock he truly felt. Millions of thoughts raced through his mind. He was alive? How? Why appear now?

No, rather was this truly H-Neun? A double was possible.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

A double or someone else wearing his body.

"Let me take a guess," H-Neun said with an easy grin. "How can you be sure I am me? Why now? Why here? All those and a little more, ain't that right? Should I try to earn your trust? Tell you some classified info? Drop a hit like…"

H-Neun trailed off, an odd look crossed his face before he shrugged.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter. I can't really prove anything. Believe what you want."

"Do you expect me to be satisfied with that sort of answer," A-Drei said, his gun pointed at H-Neun.

"I could always talk to you about the time you screamed like a little girl when you found a cockroach in your pillow," H-Neun said, seemingly unconcerned. "By the way, I was the one who put it there. I really should have gone the extra mile and added a camera. I am willing to bet your face was priceless."

It was the grin that settled it for A-Drei. The same stupid, annoying, cocksure grin.

His eyes narrowed.

This was H-Neun alright.

He did not put the gun down. Just because he believed it was his old friend did not mean he was not an enemy now.

H-Neun just looked at him, amused. "Please, you are not going to shoot."

"Oh." A-Drei raised an eyebrow. "Care to share why?"

"You are you," H-Neun said. "You may be pointing that gun to my head, but I have a hostage. You shoot me and you risk hitting her."

Nao's eyes widened. She stared at the gun in A-Drei's hands with dread. Her life at the hand of a Dorssian? Not a comfortable thought.

"Now, you're a good shot, your highness. We all are."

Except Q-Vier.

"L-Elf or X-Eins would have taken the shot already. They have enough faith in their skills for that. Q-Vier… well he would have shot something by now. You though? You're not going to."

A-Drei glared. H-Neun's voice had an annoying singsong quality to it. As if the older teen knew something, he didn't.

"And why wouldn't I?" A-Drei asked, if only to buy time. "Like you said, I am a good shot."

H-Neun chuckled.

"You will not shoot, because unlike the rest of our little group, you had a good upbringing."

A-Drei stayed silent and H-Neun's smile grew.

"Royalty has a duty towards the people, ain't that right" He said, holding Nao closer. "You always were too traditional. If you fight an opponent you have an advantage over, you always given him ample time to surrender. You prefer taking prisoners over on-field executions. You will minimize civilian casualties whenever you can. Aren't you just a regular nice guy?"

A-Drei glared.

"And of course, you will not, ever, put a civilian in danger through your actions, not one under your care," H-Neun said.

It would be different situation if A-Drei had no loyalty towards Module 77, but that was not the case. Regardless of whatever the Royalist faction told him to do, Module 77 was important to his and L-Elf's goals.

The people of Module 7 were thus under his protection.

It was the duty of a noble.

"Very good, H-Neun," Adrei said. In different circumstances he would have clapped. "You are right. I will not risk a civilian casualty."

H-Neun felt the gun against the back of his head before he saw A-Drei's smile.

"Especially not when there is a much easier way to capture you," A-Drei said.

"L-Elf," H-Neun said without even trying to look. There was no need for him to turn. There should be only one person in the entire Module capable of sneaking up on him.

"H-Neun," L-Elf replied, his gun not wavering an inch. "Release the hostage. Give yourself up, and I will make sure you will be treated in accordance to the Papau New Guinea Convention."

H-Neun chuckled. "Somehow, that's not all that reassuring coming from you of all people, Mister One Man Army. Still good show. Really good show. You two were always such a good team."

Both relaxed when they saw H-Neun let his arm drop, no longer pointing the gun at Nao's head. Nao, having less restraint than both, almost fell to the ground in sheer relief.

"But you get way too cocky when you think you have won."

Both instantly tensed.

Two experienced set of eyes looked around for the source of H-Neun's confidence. While it could be just a bluff, if the opponent was H-Neun they could not afford to be careless.

A-Drei saw it first.

"L-Elf, behind you!"

"Sad to say as it is to say, I am expendable for my employee. Are you?" H-Neun said even as L-Elf turned around.

The skies of Module 77 were not empty.

A Splicer soared above, its weapons aimed right at them.

Years of training took over as A-Drei and L-Elf dived for cover, leaving H-Neun and Nao in the middle of the street.

Guns roared.

The streets broke under the assault, sending dust flying all over the place. A-Drei coughed as he tried to locate the Splicer. He did not have a hard time doing so. It was close… too close for an air assault and coming closer each second.

His eyes widened.

"L-Elf!" He shouted. He need not have bothered. His partner had come to the same conclusion.

Both their guns rang through the streets even as the Splicer passed mere inches above the ground.

When the dust cleared there was no one there.

"He got us," A-Drei said, displeasure plain to see on his face as the Splicer flew away from them. H-Neun was no doubt onboard.

The Splicer's "attack" had not been an attempt to silence H-Neun. It had been a rescue plan. They had both dived for cover, leaving the way clear. The initial assault had provided the perfect cover.

Still, it had been a risky move. The Splicer had not even slowed down for H-Neun to enter. Whoever was inside had probably just opened the cockpit at the last second for H-Neun to jump through.

H-Neun could have died at any point of the plan.

"We need to bring the Valvraves up here, before he gets away," A-Drei said.

"It is already too late," L-Elf said, his eyes never leaving the Splicer.

A-Drei looked at him not understanding. Comprehension dawned a second later..

The Splicer crashed through the Module's dome.

Since the moment they unveiled the Magus to the world, this would be the country's first true loss.

The Module's dome would take some time to repair, but the true magnitude of the loss would only hit them later in the day.

L-Elf would be the first to realize the truth. The sound that came from his mouth when he did was not human.

Rather than a man, it sounded like something that would come out of a wounded beast.

A sound frightening and terrible in its rage.

* * *

The trip back had been hell.

Under other circumstances he would be patting himself in the back. Sure there had been some downsides, his complete inability to drop even one hint of his location to A-Drei being the main one.

H-Neun frowned. He had been (and still was) unable to even form a thought regarding the location of the base. The information just slipped through his fingers like water every time he tried to conjure it up.

Damn Magius.

Regardless, things had gone even better than expected. Sure, he had almost killed himself with that last gambit. If had made just one mistake when programming the machine's autopilot… it would not have been pretty. Still, he needed to risk his life if he wanted to get one up over L-Elf and A-Drei.

Yep, he had a lot to feel proud about.

Problem was, a video game was not enough of a distraction to ignore a squirming hostage who would not stop glaring at him. She had a good reason to, but plan needed one hostage. It was just bad luck she ran into him.

She had one hell of a glare though. He had to give her that.

And that's not even getting into the… biological sample.

Decomposition did not smell nice. Sure, Dr. Tokishima had said he did not care of the state of the sample as long as he got it, but was some sort of cooling unit too much to ask?

He was almost glad to be back at the base. At least he was until the guards dragged him through the "debriefing procedure".

He had been poked, prodded, interrogated and God knew what else. It only made sense. The Magius had no idea what he could have gotten during his trip and did not trust him one bit.

He really hated Magius.

It had taken some hours, but they had let him go. H-Neun found his steps leading him right towards Dr. Tokishima's lab. While he could not say he liked the man, he was the only person in the base who would talk to him at all, meaning unless he wanted to go mad of boredom he was going to spend a lot of time in that lab.

"Ah, H-Neun," Soichi Tokishima said once H-Neun opened the doors. "Good I was afraid, you were not going to be on time."

H-Neun looked around the lab. "On time? You have something important going on today?"

One glance gave him the answer before the doctor even opened his mouth. There was new equipment around the place. The most eye-catching piece by far was a large crystal tube rising from the ground all the way to the ceiling. It was connected to other machines by dozens of cable, big and small.

That was not what called H-Neun's attention. What called his attention was what floated in the tube, the biological sample he had retrieved from the Module with a little help.

The body of Tokishima Haruto.

"Oh you have no idea!" Soichi said, looking like a kid in a candy store as he literally skipped around his lab. "I have been getting ready for this even before you left. I had worked out the theory a long time ago, but I was held back by the technology."

And international law.

Soichi rubbed his hands together. "To think I would get a chance like this so soon! How glad am I to have come here!"

Soichi moved from screen to screen, double checking equations and numbers H-Neun could not make heads or tails of.

"It was just a matter of modifying their equipment a little for my purposes. I must say Magius technology is terribly interesting, if a little wasteful in some areas. Well, nothing I cannot fix in time. I am just buzzing with ideas!"

H-Neun coughed. "Eh, doc? Not to rain on your parade, but I am having a hard time following you."

"Of course. I apologize," Soichi said without feeling or sounding the least bit sorry. "I tend to forget myself at times. No, there is no need to explain. Just watch."

With the push of a button a red liquid entered the tube. The clear water holding Haruto's body soon changed color and Haruto's body… Haruto's body dissolved.

H-Neun fought the urge to turn away as he saw flesh and bone become nothing more than oddly colored liquid in front of his eyes.

"H-Neun," Soichi said, in an unusually serious tone. "Do you know what the problem with cloning is?"

The youth blinked, surprised by the sudden question. "Eh, not really."

"It is inefficient," Soichi said, plainly. "When people first thought of the concept, the ideal was to fully recreate a human. Reality bitterly disappointed. You can create a copy, but he will be just a baby. A clone will need to grow like everyone else. Worse, he will not inherit any memories. Without experience, knowledge or age what good is a clone? The people who claimed success after cloning a measly sheep should just shot themselves."

It was almost scary how plainly Soichi said all of this, as if he was discussing the weather.

"They were fools who did not dare to investigate further. They were missing the final piece of the puzzle."

H-Neun chose not to mention cloning research was strictly forbidden in their times. More importantly, he chose not to ask what Dr. Tokishima's experience with that branch of science was.

Soichi stayed silent for a moment, looking at the liquid that was once his son.

"It is a shame you know?" He said, suddenly.

H-Neun tilted his head ever so slightly. "What is?"

"If I had him a few days earlier I could have done it before the third day."

H-Neun did not reply. His eyes were on the small device Dr. Tokishima had taken out of his pocket. He knew it. He had used it on the Valvrave.

It was the device that held the Runes of Unit 1.

In a swift movement, Soichi Tokishima connected it to the larger machine.

And there was light.

Murky liquid glowed with the light of Runes. Green light shined even as Soichi's laughter filled the lab.

"Look at it, isn't it beautiful!" He said with open arms.

Green light glowed as numerous bubble rose in the tube, almost as if the liquid was boiling. Then H-Neun saw it.

Bone.

It was small but growing. Bit by bit, pieces of bone grew into a skeleton. Muscle followed. He saw lungs and a heart form before his very eyes. He saw skull and teeth. He saw a mouth open up and lungs fill.

He heard the scream.

The thing in the tube trashed violently. Its fists banged against its prison, but it was no use.

It was... insane. It was too much. H-Neun laughed. He laughed as he watched a human body form before his very eyes. He laughed as he saw it trashing around and screaming itself hoarse, all of its nerves no doubt alive with pain.

There was no joy in that laugher. Only hysteria.

He laughed even as the lights faded and the completely human body fell unconscious.

"Welcome back, my son!" Dr. Tokishima said. H-Neun looked at the man. On that moment there was no prouder father on the universe.

H-Neun fell to his knees. His laugh had long since become weak.

If he stayed around too long going mad with boredom would be the least dangerous thing that could happen to him.

X

X

X

* * *

AN: Yes, that just happened. It is not Valvrave if I don't do something crazy every now and then.

Plus, the story is called The Return for a reason.

On the subject of Nao. She's technically not an OC. She's from Valvrave Undertaker.

Which this author shamelessly admits he hasn't read. I just have knowledge from translated promotional material.

What can I say? I needed a female character. Akira and Saki were out because they were VVV pilots (plus putting Saki and Haruto together would have made things way too easy). Takahi has another role. Same with Shoko and Iori. That left background characters… or Nao who has the fighting experience necessary for this.

Totally killed Jin though.

Finally, as should be obvious by now, H-Neun is really good at what he does. I have left some hints, but there was some behind the scenes stuff going on while he was on the Module. Next chapter should give some insight on that.

Plus a good look at L-Elf mental state. That should be fun. Also, as I said before I have replied to some reviews on my livejournal account. Link should be on my profile.

Don't forget to leave a review. Feedback is always appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: First of all, since the author of my favorite Haruto/Saki fic, xchrispx, reviewed I feel compelled to address it right away. As far as pairing goes, I am partial to Haruto/Saki, but pairings are not the main focus of this fic and it'll take a while for those two to reunite.

Like before, replies to reviews and stuff can be found on my live journal. The link can be found on my profile.

Disclaimer: I don't own Valvrave and all that.

* * *

Focus.

564. 563. 562.

Standard emotional control training. Count back

561. 560. 559.

Be calm. Be cold. A soldier is a machine.

558, 557, 556

It did not matter if they had stolen Tokishima's body.

555554553552551

It did not matter if they had stolen his _friend_!

L-Elf slammed his fist against the table, sending papers and pens all over the floor. The rest of his room was in a similar state with furniture thrown around and broken. L-Elf had taken his anger out on whatever was at hand. He had realized the hidden motive behind the attack far too late.

Tokishima's body had been stolen.

H-Neun had been a distraction. He understood that much now. There was no way his former teammate could have had the time to steal Tokishima's body. L-Elf had kept the place under careful surveillance. Only when the alarm had led him away had a window of opportunity opened.

Possibilities danced in L-Elf's mind. Dozens of them appeared in the blink of an eye only to be discarded with ruthless efficiency. Already, L-Elf had a rough idea of who to blame.

The list of people who would want a sample of the so-called Type 7 Lifeforms was not small. The list of people who would have known about Tokishima's death and could have access to the supposedly dead H-Neun began and ended with one word.

Magius.

He wanted to kill them.

For a single moment, L-Elf wanted to do nothing more than to find them and burn their entire civilization to ashes.

How much more did they intend to take away from him?

Methods of revenge appeared in his mind, each one was crueler than the last. Only one thought stopped him from enacting any of them.

They would not have wanted that.

What Lieselotte wanted, what Tokishima… what Haruto wanted was not extermination.

L-Elf sighed, leaning back against a broken chair. He could feel the strength draining from his body.

A new country. That was what they wanted. That was the dream that they had left him. For their sake (and his no matter how much he may want to deny it) he had to fulfill that goal.

L-Elf took a deep breath. Recent events had weakened the iron control he held over his emotions. He had managed to put a good front so far, but it was clear he was not at 100%. The security he had put around Haruto would not have failed so easily if he had been.

No, rather he would not have fallen for H-Neun's diversion at all if he had been working at full capacity. He would have realized something was wrong. His temper was getting the better of him. He was being far too rash with his actions.

Like with the students.

He had not mentioned it and he was sure only a few had realized it, but had they taken too long in rescuing them. Many of the students could have died in that time. After re-taking the module, rescuing them should have been his first priority.

L-Elf just did not want to do it.

L-Elf could not bring himself to care about what happened to that a cowardly lot; so, he had taken care of other things first. He had reunited with Renbokoji's group, then searched for the remains of Unit III and V. The tasks had taken quite a bit of time, leaving the wounded, scared students alone.

In the end, the powerless students had been forced to accept their rule if they wanted to survive. Given the results, L-Elf could get away with saying it had all gone according to plan.

The truth was, he had been angry at them. He blamed them. If he had just a few more pieces to play with, the battle could have ended with no casualties on their side. If every student had been willing to offer up a minimum amount of Runes, the Valvraves would have been at their best. Tokishima would have fought the suggestion at the beginning, but L-Elf was confident he could have convinced him.

Their battle potential would have gone up considerably.

Tokishima would have survived.

So, maybe, just maybe, L-Elf had, for a moment, considered letting all those cowards die, drifting endlessly in space.

He sighed.

This was not helping.

They… they would not have wanted this. He had to keep reminding himself of the fact. In the end, it was the only thing that mattered. If he didn't hold onto this tiny thing, this last link…

He did not know what he would become.

* * *

Hours later, L-Elf was at the head of the conference table. On his face there were no signs of his previous emotional outburst. His arms rested on the sides of his chair as he surveyed the attendants. Otamaya and Ninomiya would be missing this meeting as well.

Someone had to keep the students under control. They were scared and wounded. The wrong stimulus could create chaos. In a way, it was a good thing the students were like that.

They might have noticed the attack otherwise.

"We all know why we have gathered here," L-Elf said, choosing to forgo the formalities. "A-Drei, report."

As the one who had spend most time with the intruder, he had placed this duty on A-Drei. At least, that was the official reason. The truth was L-Elf was not certain he would be able to keep calm while narrating the events.

A-Drei nodded and stood up. True to his character, the Dorssian youth had a neatly type report in hand.

"At approximately fifteen hundred hours yesterday," A-Drei began, "an intruder sneaked into the Module aboard a Splicer. None of our radars managed to detect its presence. Subsequent analysis indicates the Splicer was likely equipped with some type of stealth system."

Kibukawa chose to speak up from his seat. "The Phantoms are the only other technology that we know of that offer a similar level of stealth. It is unlikely they are unrelated."

A silence settled over the room for a moment. Most of them had already arrived at a similar conclusion. Regardless, they needed to put all the clues on the table first.

"Some time later, the intruder took one of the students, one Ohta Nao, as a prisoner," A-Drei went on. "It is unknown if the intruder planned it or if he was forced to do so after being discovered."

Frowns filled the room at the mention of their kidnapped classmate. While none of the students in the room could say they knew the girl, she was still a student of Sakimori.

A-Drei did not say it but he was willing to bet his remaining eye H-Neun had planned to take a hostage from the beginning.

"Along with the hostage, the intruder made his way to the Valvrave Unit 1. A review of the cameras in the cockpit has revealed his actions to us. In there, he used a device of some type on the Unit, causing damage to the… lifeforms inhabiting the Valvrave."

"Rune extraction," Akira said, drawing a few looks.

"That's what Prue told us," Saki explained before sighing. "What he was willing to tell us at any rate. He doesn't like us much."

L-Elf frowned. While the entity known as Prue was currently living inside Unit 1, he was not quite an ally yet. Pino was the only reason he remained civil so far and with her unconscious, the blue haired entity was proving to be difficult.

"I was the first one to arrive at the scene," A-Drei said, a little annoyed at being interrupted twice.

This was not proper protocol.

"The culprit had already fled, but I managed to track him and caught up with him. No. Rather, it would be more accurate to say he was waiting for me."

A-Drei paused. Part of him did not wish to say his next words. Regardless, he went on.

"After seeing him… I can say beyond a shadow of doubt the culprit was a former comrade of mine, H-Neun."

"His body at least," L-El added, and that was the only cue A-Drei needed. The silver haired boy nodded and went back to his seat, letting L-Elf take the metaphorical stage.

"I was able to join A-Drei and we tried to apprehend the intruder. This proved difficult. A Splicer came to his aid, possibly piloted by someone else. This brings us to our primary concern."

Everyone on the room tensed. While seemingly calm, something dark lurked beneath L-Elf's voice.

"H-Neun was not alone," L-Elf said. "Between the time I left my quarters and the time H-Neun escaped, someone managed to take something from us. H-Neun was a distraction. While we were busy going after him, someone stole _Tokishima Haruto's body_."

Darks looks crossed the room. The knowledge had been passed around already, at least among the members of this room. It was impossible for it not to have done so after L-Elf's initial reaction. Nevertheless, most of them stayed quiet to let L-Elf speak.

Saki had no such compulsions.

She banged her fist against the table with surprising force.

"Bastards," she muttered under her breath, the look on her face just daring anyone to call her out on her actions.

L-Elf did not reprimand her. If anything it was a relief seeing anger so clearly displayed. Her glowing violet eyes were almost frightening in their intensity.

_Glowing_ eyes?

L-Elf blinked. Saki's eyes were now perfectly normal.

Anyone else would dismiss it as a trick of light, but L-Elf was certain of what he saw. His training would not allow anything less than perfection when taking in details.

Rukino Saki's eyes had been glowing.

His mind flashed back to the powers displayed by Cain and later Haruto.

Interesting.

The phenomenon required an investigation. However, now was not the time for it.

"By the time the Splicer retrieved H-Neun, Tokishima's body was no doubt already on it," L-Elf said, smoothly regaining the control of the room. "The Splicer broke through the dome and flew away. Tracking it proved impossible. We can assume it used its stealth system to accomplish this. This concludes the recollection of the events that transpired. Any questions?"

L-Elf was not merely asking for questions. He was asking for ideas. While he had already pieced everything together, spoon feeding them would do no good. He needed Module 77 to get used to this type of meeting. He needed them to start thinking.

"Eh, I have a question," Satomi said, raising his hand before realizing he was not in a classroom anymore. Blushing a little, he put his hand down before continuing.

"The Dorssian that infiltrated… just what can you tell us about him?" The question was directed at L-Elf but was A-drei who answered it.

"H-Neun was part of our squad," the noble said. "We have been together since our days at Karlstien. H-Neun…"

A-Drei paused for a moment, frowning.

"H-Neun had doubts about Commander Cain. Looking back on it, I can see he never fully trusted the man. He started investigating him." A sad look crossed his face. "We never knew until he was reported dead and accused of treason. However, he made sure some of the information he had uncovered reached us."

A-Drei looked at L-Elf.

"It was the reason I knew to trust you that day."

"So," Saki said. "How did a dead guy get all the way here?"

She was not the least bit sorry about interrupting a possible bonding moment between A-Drei and L-Elf. Her concern for the current situation far outweighed any other considerations.

"Faking someone's death is not hard," Kibukawa said. "If he discovered something he shouldn't have, he could have been captured and held prisoner instead of been killed so they could find out what he had managed to learn about them."

"We are all thinking the same thing then?" Saki spoke and it was certainly not a question. Everyone on the room could think of the most likely culprits.

H-Neun had been investigating Cain before he died.

Cain was a Magius.

Most likely, H-Neun had been captured by Magius. That meant the culprit could only be one.

The Council.

"Wait," Satomi said, "If that is the case, then how do we know he was who he appeared to be?"

He looked at A-Drei and L-Elf. His face had caution written all over it.

"Not that I am doubting you or saying you saw things, but if it was them who had him then…"

He did not finish. He could not finish.

_How do you know it was not a Magius wearing you old friend's face?_

It was too cruel for him to say it.

L-Elf had not such problems.

"It could have been a Magius possessing H-Neun's body," he said without emotion. "H-Neun was not the type to change his loyalties so easily."

"Nevertheless," A-Drei said, "I believe the man we met was the real H-Neun. His mannerisms were too perfect for him to be someone else."

For a moment he looked like he wanted to say something else, but a look from L-Elf stopped him.

"The possibility cannot be fully discarded," L-Elf admitted. "In any case, we can only speculate for now. There is a far more pressing matter that requires discussion. After all, H-Neun was not the only person involved during the events."

Everyone focused on L-Elf. That was right. There had been one more person. Someone had stolen Haruto's body while all eyes had been on H-Neun.

"There was a second person, someone who managed to get past the security I had put around Tokishima's body in a rather short amount of time," L-Elf reminded them, "yet that is not the more worrisome part."

While the students looked confused, Kibukawa's eyes widened in alarm. "You can't mean…?"

"That is right. It is normal to think H-Neun and another person infiltrated the Module and left, but what if that was not the case. What if that person was already here?"

L-Elf let the full weight of that statement hit before dropping the next bomb.

"What if that person is still on the Module?"

* * *

Utter chaos had broken upon L-Elf's announcement. In the end, L-Elf had called for a thirty minute recess.

No trained force would have reacted like that.

Times like these, A-Drei missed the military.

Technically, he had never left it. Officially, he was performing the duty assigned to him by the Royalist faction. He was to lend his aid to their allies in Module 77.

And that was the problem.

This was no trained force. This was a group L-Elf had somehow managed to pull together. It spoke volumes of his teammate's capacity, but he wondered if it would be enough in the future. Still, he could not say he was not grateful for the lack of discipline this once. It gave him the opportunity to discuss something with L-Elf.

While the others talked among themselves and split into smaller groups, A-Drei discreetly followed L-Elf into another room.

"Did you need to talk to me about something?" L-Elf asked without turning back. He did not need to. He had known A-Drei was following him all along.

A-Drei did not expect anything less of him, which was precisely why they needed to have this conversation.

"Do you really not believe it was H-Neun?" He asked.

"There is no conclusive proof and the abilities of the Magius are not to be underestimated," L-Elf replied.

To that A-Drei only had three words.

"You are lying."

This time L-Elf did turn around and his gaze told A-Drei he wanted to choose his next words with great care.

"We have known each other for years," A-Drei said. "The bond between the five of us is not something so easily dismissed."

They had fought together. They had killed together. They had survived together. How many times had they saved each other's lives? How many enemies had they overcome? How many times had they faced death together?

"I know what I saw," A-Drei said. "I could never mistake H-Neun for anyone else and neither could you. The subtle gestures. The body language. The attitude. That was the real article not someone wearing his skin; so why would you hide it?"

There was also one more clue, but it was not yet the time to bring it out.

L-Elf stared into A-Drei's eyes for a short eternity, before speaking. "What would it have accomplished? What difference does it make if it was H-Neun that committed the crimes in person or if it was a Magius? What difference does it make to Module 77?"

This was not Dorssia.

This was Module 77.

In their old squad, the knowledge of H-Neun's survival would have compelled them to launch a rescue operation right away, but that was not the case here.

The students had never met H-Neun. Whether it was a Magius or H-Neun, for them it was the same. Their feelings would not change. Both were just names to put under the label of Enemy. In fact, it was better for Module 77 to place the blame on a Magius.

Even L-Elf's negotiation skills would be hard pressed to convince the students to try to take H-Neun back alive.

"How odd," A-Drei finally said, leaning against one of the walls.

"What is?"

"I have never known you to place yourself in a situation where you have so little control? Do you trust this group that much?"

Unsaid went the question, "Are they worthy of such trust?" but both of them heard it just fine.

The students would be helpless without L-Elf. They acknowledged that much, yet L-Elf was not the sole authority. He could have grasped absolute control of the Module had he played his cards right. Instead, a large part of the decision making power rested in a mix of influential students.

It was a risky move on L-Elf's part.

To A-Drei's surprise, L-Elf smiled, but there was neither happiness nor sadness to be found there.

"It is not them I trust," he simply said. A-Drei waited, but L-Elf did not volunteer more information.

"Is that why you hid it from them?" A-Drei asked. This was it. The real reason he had cornered L-Elf.

"We have been together for a long time," A-Drei went on before L-Elf had any chance to deflect the question. "We learned a number of codes and operational procedures together. What H-Neun did here was not just an operation. It was a message. You know it as well. You stopped me from talking about it during the meeting, but I shall not hold silence here."

"H-Neun went out of his way to be visible to us," A-Drei continued. "He called our attention. He forced his employer to reveal his hand. L-Elf, _he was asking us to rescue him_."

* * *

Miles away back on Earth, the topic of A-Drei's and L-Elf's discussion had his own circumstances to worry about, said worries mostly centered on the scientist in front of him, Tokishima Soichi.

The man barely paid any attention to the Dorssian youth as he went about his work. The lab the Council had given to the Doctor was relatively large. The walls were lined up with equipment, H-Neun could loosely identify as medical as well as high tech computers. There were no windows and the walls were without color. The floor was similarly boring. Outside the only entrance, H-Neun knew there were four guards at all time.

Part of him felt insulted, Tokishima merited such measures while he had free reign (within limits) of the place.

The guards, for the most part, never ventured into the lab, which left Dr. Tokishima and H-Neun with the place to themselves. As the lab was spacious and most of its floor unoccupied, this meant a lot of free space for the two.

Meant. Past tense.

Since day one, the good doctor had requested more and more equipment. As it was now, the lab had transformed into a labyrinthine room with walls and walls of high tech equipment, most of which H-Neun could not make heads or tails of. There were monitors, cameras, computers, tanks filled with bubbling liquids and weird sounds. There was barely room to walk!

Right now, the monitors occupied the lion's share of Dr. Tokishima's interest.

Some showed medical data. Others showed pulse, brain activity and other things. A few showed ever changing numbers H-Neun did not understand, and a few were connected to the cameras on the cell of Tokishima's still unconscious son.

Soichi had not taken his eyes off the screens for a second.

H-Neun knew working for the Magius was going to expose him to new things. Cain had been the first clue of that. It had taken him week to come to terms with what he had seen Cain do during the invasion of Module 77.

Even if he had witnessed firsthand it had been hard to believe. People don't suddenly glow. They don't survive an assault from a Valvrave. They most certainly do not float away. What he had seen back then had been so foreign to his natural sensibilities his brain had a hard time wrapping itself around the idea.

However, H-Neun was nothing if not flexible. He had grown used to the idea of non-humans. He had accepted their existence.

He was prepared to be surprised by them.

H-Neun was not prepared for Tokishima Soichi.

Oh, he had known about the man. One of head researchers behind the Valvrave project, he had investigated that much back when he was spying on Cain. Tokishima Soichi could not be called anything other than dangerous. Anyone who had a hand in creating the Valvrave deserved no less.

The Valvraves were monsters.

The IDEAL was supposed to be the pinnacle of Dorssian engineering. They were war engines of over a hundred meters in length. Despite their bulk, their speed was not to be underestimated. An IDEAL could ram into an enemy at several times the speed of sound. Their sheer size ensured they could be loaded with a multitude of weapons. All ranges and all purposes. That was the IDEAL.

The Valvrave made them utterly obsolete.

The Valvraves were too strong, too fast, and too powerful.

Even the Kirschbaum made by adapting the technology from the Valvrave Commander Cain had captured did not match up to the original.

The Kirschbaums had power on their side. They were tough and strong. Their ability to switch between modes added to their versatility, and the Lowenglitzen had undeniable destructive power.

But they could not dance. The Kirschbaum did not even come close to the effortless grace that was in every movement of the Valvraves.

Certainly, the Kirschbaums could more than put up a fight against the Valvraves when backed by the full resources of the Dorssian army with Waffes ready to switch out the batteries allowing for multiple uses of the Lowenglitzen and other units providing cover.

A skilled pilot in a Kirschabaum may even be able to make up for the difference in machines if he got lucky.

However, as far as pure specs went, the Valvraves were superior. If only there were more than five, they would completely change the face of war.

Tokishima Soichi was dangerous. H-Neun had known that.

Even so…

Even so!

That!

H-Neun fought the urge to kill the man on the spot.

What he had seen went beyond brilliance and into madness. Haruto Tokishima was dead. H-Neun had to put up with the smell of his decomposing body for hours on the trip back. It was not something that had been fixed with the regeneration Magius possessed.

Haruto Tokishima had died.

Haruto Tokishima's body had been dissolved before his eyes.

Haruto Tokishima had been rebuilt piece by piece.

Disturbing did not even begin to cover it. H-Neun was not a religious person, but this made him reconsider on whether there were things man was not supposed to do. What Dr. Tokishima had done was wrong on so many levels he could not even begin to describe it.

H-Neun had underestimated the scientist. Tokishima Soichi was not just a dangerous person.

The man was a person who could not be allowed to live.

Soichi Tokishima would have to die. He could not do it now. As much as he hated to admit it, his continued survival depended on the man for now. He was wild card and as long as the Council paid more attention to him, H-Neun could find away to escape.

For now, the mad scientist would have to live.

"Lovely!" Cried out Soichi Tokishima while looking at his son's vital signs, either unaware or uncaring of H-Neun's dark thoughts.

"Oh, whatever are you doing back there, young man," Soichi said without turning back. "My son is about to get up. Come closer. A front row seat for an event like this does not come often."

H-Neun looked at the man for a moment before sighing and walking up next to the doctor. As Haruto's vitals picked up, Dr. Tokishima soon started delivering messages to the soldiers through an intercom.

H-Neun raised an eyebrow when he heard the instructions.

"The girl is still alive?" He asked.

"Oh, I managed to persuade them," Soichi replied, eyes still glued to the screens. "It was a good thing you brought that girl. She will speed the process considerably."

Sure enough, Ohta Nao, the same girl H-Neun had kidnapped, appeared on the screen a few minutes later as she opened the door to Haruto's cell. She carried a tray of food with her.

H-Neun tilted his head to the side.

"Are you sure that's safe?" H-Neun asked.

He had no right to task about the girl's safety. He was the one who brought her here in the first place. Still, H-Neun had no problem allowing himself this bit of hypocrisy. If at all possible, he wanted the girl to live.

"My son's condition is perfect. No harm will come to him," Dr. Tokishima replied without missing a beat.

"I meant the girl."

"Her?" Soichi shrugged. "She will die."

* * *

Dark.

Where?

Where. Space. Location. Place. Places. Earth. Moon. Asia. America. Africa. Europe. Dorssia. ARUS. JIOR. Module. Module 77. Sakimori. Home.

Who?

Who. Animal. Human. Kamitsuki. Magus. Male. Female. Adult. Teenager. Worker. Student. Soldier. Pilot.

A burst of pain shot through his brain. Too much. It was too much.

Who was he?

No. Where was he? What was he? Was he even a He?

No.

Don't Panic. Think! Focus!

Breathe.

Huh? He could breathe. He could feel it. The air going in and out of his body. He could breathe. Lungs. He had them. He had lungs and a mouth. He could feel them. A body, he had a body. He had legs and a torso. He had arms and legs.

He could feel.

He could feel the air around him. He could feel a bed of some type against his back. He could feel the blood flowing through his body.

He could smell.

He could hear.

He could taste.

He could se… no, he still had his eyes closed. Why had he not noticed?

…

How did one open his eyes?

How did one move his body for the matter?

Bones. Muscles. Nerves. Nervous system.

Move.

Move!

Open!

Slowly, almost painfully, his eyes opened for the first time. Immediately, he flinched them shut when the light hit. It took a few more tries until his eyes got used to it. An unfamiliar ceiling greeted him. Grey ceiling. Grey walls too judging from what he could catch from the corner of his eye. The ceiling was not that large. A small room then? A cell?

There was only so much he could see without moving his head. .

However, moving his neck proved a tough challenge. Moving hurt. It was uncomfortable, as if he had never moved a muscle before.

In a way, he hadn't.

He managed to turn to the side just in time to see the door of his cell open up.

He blinked. It hurt.

The person was a woman, young one. About his age. He had no idea what age he was and he had never seen his body in a mirror, yet it felt right to say this girl was of similar age to him.

She had long, wavy pink hair and stepped in carrying a tray of food. Upon seeing him, her blue eyes went wide with shock. The tray hit the ground not a second later.

"Tokishima!" She said running towards him. "Is it really you?"

The girl knelt down next to his bed and looked closely at his face. "Just how… I saw your… You're alive!"

As Nao struggled to form coherent sentences, one word kept repeating itself in the young man's mind.

"Toki… shima?" He asked.

Pain stabbed into the side of his head and he managed to bring a hand to massage his forehead. This did not go unnoticed by Nao.

"Tokishima! Are you alright? Can I help?" She asked, trying to discern the cause of his discomfort.

That name…Tokishima…

The pain doubled.

"Tokishima… Haruto?" He said though gritted teeth.

"Yes… just…" The girl looked uncertainly at the youth. His body had started to sweat at an alarming rate. "Do you want me to call anyone? I am not sure if they have doctors in here, but…?"

"I… no…I'm just…"

Missing something.

What was he missing?

Tokishima Haruto.

His name. Was it?

"I… need…"

What was it? It was like there was a pit inside of him, an emptiness.

He was…

"Name it," Nao said. "I'm not sure if I can get it for you but I will at least try."

Hungry.

"I need..." He trailed off, starting at Nao.

He could feel it now. There it was. What he was missing.

"Toki… shima?" Nao said as Haruto took hold of her hand.

Nao barely had time to react as Haruto wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his bed.

"Hold it! What do you think you are-"

Haruto's teeth sank into her neck.

That was it. He just needed to feed.

* * *

"What the hell?" H-Neun said.

"Oooh, upgrades!" Soichi Tokishima only had eyes for the numerous screens in front of him.

* * *

Nao was not quite sure what was going on.

She had been taken prisoner. She understood that much. They not tried to interrogate her. Rather, once they had checked for weapons, her captors had thrown her in a cell. She had been scared. She was still scared. Just what were they going to do with her?

It had been a surprise when they had taken her out. The guards grunted out instructions and she had little choice but to follow them. It was even a simple job. Just take food to another prisoner.

Then she had seen him.

Tokishima Haruto. Alive and well.

She knew the news. How could she not? She had seen his dead body! She had stayed next to it for hours while on that accursed Splicer.

Yet the boy in the cell was Toksihima Haruto. The pilot of the Valvrave. The hero ofJIOR. The youth who fought the world.

She needed to help him. It was the only thing she knew for sure. How could she not want to help him? Everyone on the Module owed a lot to the pilots.

But something was wrong.

_Tokishima pulled Nao close, wrapping his arms around her._

What was he doing? Why had he been in pain? Why did he have trouble with his own name?

_Nao gasped as bit her neck. _

Why was he attacking her?

_Bites became nibbles. His teeth lightly scrapped against her skin as he started placing kisses along her neck._

Why?

_His hands caressed her back. Her muscles relaxed in spite of her inner protests. Shivers run down her spine when she felt his tongue touch a particularly sensitive zone._

Why did it feel so _good_?

He was attacking her. He had bitten her! So why was she leaning into him? Why was her face flushed with emotions other than anger?

Then he stopped. No more teeth on her neck. No tongue dancing on her skin. No delirious pleasure .

Nao whimpered and cursed herself for it

Pure red eyes peered into her and she found herself frozen on the spot. She couldn't move away. She did not want to look away.

A hand trailed up from her waist all the way to her chin. Nao did not fight as Haruto pulled her face close and claimed her lips for his own.

* * *

"…I was not expecting this," H-Neun said, suddenly feeling very awkward. He looked at Dr. Tokishima and found the man's happiness weird for an entirely different reason than usual.

Did the man plan to keep watching?

Creepy. That was way too creepy.

"Well, I must admit I expected him to be more forceful, but this works just as well," Soichi said.

H-Neun blinked. Several times.

"…I think I am going to ask for an explanation, because I am feeling really uncomfortable right now."

"I will assume you already know the basics of reproduction," Soichi said. "Despite appearance, I will tell you right now this is nothing of the sort."

H-Neun looked at the screen and raised an eyebrow.

"Not yet."

Soichi sighed. "Oh, H-Neun, you have much to learn. Would you engage in intercourse with a cow?"

"Of course you would not," Soichi said, preventing the Dorssian's indignant response. "Cows are food. We eat them. We take their milk and cut away their flesh. This is no different."

Soichi shrugged. "My son is just feeding. As you are surely aware of by now, Magius need to feed. Just as humans eat animals and plants, Magius feast on Runes."

"And humans are highest resource of Runes on the planet," H-Neun finished for him. The doctor had explained as much to him during one of their talks. It had put in perspective just what the Magius had done to him by placing the Rune Absorber on his back.

Bastards.

"Quite," Soichi replied. "My son has just returned to this world. It is only natural for him to want a first meal. Of course, there are other reasons."

The doctor grinned, delighting in knowledge only he fully understood.

"It is a good thing you brought that girl here. Anyone else would have done, but her memories would work far better as a reference point."

"Reference point?"

"Right now, my son's mind is in disarray. Knowledge and memories are in chaos. That is where the reference point comes in. Memories are interconnected through numerous links."

"For example," he said. "Seeing a car can make you remember an important event which happened in a car like a car crash. This, in turn, may lead to other memories linked to that event. The information in our minds is linked which makes it easy to summon, but that is not the case for my son who has been born again. There are no links or connections. He is full of unsorted information."

H-Neun crossed his arms. "And that's where the girl comes in?"

"Quite," Soichi replied. "Even as we speak he is taking her Runes and using them to form reference points with his own memories. Since they both lived in the same city and went to the same school, their memories have some degree of similarity which increases the efficiency of the process. Still, I must say my son has surprised me yet again. Fatherhood is truly something else."

Soichi Tokishima's definition of fatherhood was something H-Neun would not touch even with Kirschbaum.

"Does this have something to do with the upgrades you mentioned?" H-Neun asked instead.

"Quite," Soichi said while rubbing his hands together. "Oh, just look at this H-Neun! Look at the readings! Are they not beautiful?"

The man pointed to one of the screens. The most H-Neun could tell was that the readings came from the girl he kidnapped. Still, if he stayed quiet long enough, he was certain the doctor would take care of the explanation.

Sure enough, he was right.

"Her pleasure centers are all being abnormally stimulated. The Runes in her mind are being manipulated in order to make sure all the information she receives is interpreted as pleasure! How wonderful!"

"He's… mind controlling her?"

"Her perception at any rate and the best part is I doubt he knows what he is doing," Soichi said, looking proud. "In this way he easily takes what he needs without causing her any discomfort. The phenomenon is likely caused by a subconscious desire to not do the girl harm even as his instincts guide him to feed on her."

He chuckled.

"Oh my foolish son," Soichi said, "you care too much for the cattle."

* * *

The youth held Nao in his arms. He was not yet used to his body. As a result, his movements were slow and even clumsy at points.

To Nao, his grip might as well have been made of steel.

Every touch sent shivers down her spine. The way he lightly nibbled her earlobe took all the strength from her legs. Every single touch was electric. Cries of protest were replaced by approving moans as her mind was lost to pleasure.

The young man's thoughts were far more detached. The female body pressed against him did little to arouse his lust. In him, there was a need of a different type. With every passing moment, he could feel it. With every bite, he grew stronger. With every touch, he could see them.

Thoughts.

Memories.

Information.

_Ohta Nao. Female. Second year high school student. Sakimori Academy._

The information echoed in his mind and brought forth something new.

Tokishima Haruto. Male. Second year high school student. Sakimori Academy.

Haruto. His name. That was his name. He had been a student. He had lived in Module 77 and gone to Sakimori Academy. He was… he was…

_Pilot. Kagerou. Useful. L-Elf. Secret. War. Dorssia._

A pilot. He was the Valvrave's pilot. He was… a Kamitsuki. They had been fighting. They had been in a war against Dorssia. They had attacked the Module. Someone had helped them. L-Elf! He was… what was L-Elf to him?

_Lonely. Comrade. Jin. Friend. Dead._

A friend. L-Elf was his friend. He had friends. Yamada. Aina. Inuzuka-sempai. They were gone now, but there were still people he needs to protect. He couldn't give up. He had promised.

He had promised Rukino-san.

Saki.

Haruto's eyes widened as a flood of memories hit him.

No.

God no.

Nao yelped as Haruto pushed her away from him. The teenager leaped out of the bed, breathing heavily.

Not again.

It took a few seconds for him to realize Nao wasn't moving. Concern for her well being raged against the knowledge he was the most dangerous thing in the room by far.

He was still hungry.

In the end, concern won out. Besides, putting distance between himself and others had quite never worked out past. Why should it start now?

"Ohta-san?" He asked, kneeling by her side.

The girl groaned weakly as Haruto took her vitals. Her pulse was weak but steadily recovering. Good.

All her clothes were on, which meant he hadn't done _that_. He had just… eaten her.

The thought did little to raise his spirits.

"What… what happened?" Nao asked. The girl weakly opened her eyes and tried to sit. Tried to. Haruto had to help her to keep her from falling right back to the bed.

"I…" Haruto wavered for a second before answering. "I attacked you."

"Tokishima," the girl said. Her mind was still hazy. What had happened? She had been kidnapped and Tokishima was alive. They had told her to bring him food and…oh.

Oh!

Nao's face went bright red as multiple memories flashed through her mind. That had been…wow!

Misinterpreting her reaction for something else entirely Haruto stepped back.

"I am really sorry!" Haruto said. He bent his body by a full ninety degrees while performing a deep bow.

"Huh?" Nao blinked, startled by the sudden action before waving her arms. "Ah no, it's okay really. It was…"

Kind of good actually.

"It is not okay!" Haruto said, and Nao was struck by the fierceness in his eyes.

"I was not in control of myself, but there is no denying what I did. I could have… I could have…"

Haruto looked away, unable to finish that sentence and it was only then Nao understood.

Oh.

The blush in Nao's face vanished. She would like to tell herself she would have never let things go that far, but it would be a lie. Tokishima could have done anything he wanted with her and there was not a thing she could have done about it.

The thought was sobering to an uncomfortable degree.

She did not hate Tokishima. Like much of the female population of Sakimori Academy (and some males) before that damned broadcast, she would not be averse to dating the pilot at least once, but that…

Something like that was entirely different.

"Just… what is going on here?" She finally asked him. At that moment she was not the pilot of the Kagerou or one of the most popular girls in school. She was just a lost child.

It was too much. Her home was gone. She had been kidnapped. Someone who was supposed to be dead wasn't.

Just what was going on?

"I don't know." It was all Haruto could say and he hated himself for it. He wished he had the answers to the question so clearly expressed in the girl's eyes, but that was not the case.

Just what had happened after the fight with Cain? Where was he now? Hadn't he… died?

"I don't know," Haruto repeated, "but I intend to find out."

_Let's make a promise. Neither of us will ever give up!_

That was all he could do for now. Even if he was lost, he just needed to keep walking until he found a path.

"If the two of us gather what we know, we might be able to find out something," He said, offering his hand to Nao. "After that, we can try to figure out just what this place is."

"That's the spirit!" A cheerful voice Haruto could not help but recognize echoed through the room. Both Haruto and Nao looked around but found no one. It seemed to be coming through speakers of some kind.

"An inquisitive mind is a wonderful quality to have. I am proud to see it in you," the voice went on.

"Father." The amount of casual disdain Haruto managed to put in the word was impressive.

"Father?" Nao softly echoed.

"Come now, if answers are what you seek I will be more than glad to give them to you," Soichi said. A mechanic hiss signaled the doors of his cell opening, two armed guards were ready and waiting.

"If you will follow these nice men, they will take you to me. I daresay some quality parent-son bonding time is long overdue."

Haruto looked at the men. They wore nondescript uniforms, all grey with not a single type of identification in sight. They were large and they had their guns were trained on the two of them.

Haruto frowned.

He did not need to worry about bullets, if he could Jack one of them, they could escape.

But doing so would put Ohta-san at risk. He sighed. There was no other choice for now.

"What do we do?" Nao whispered to him.

"We don't have many options," Haruto replied, his voice just as low. "We both want answers and we are not going to find them if we stay here."

The two looked at each other and nodded.

Down the rabbit hole they went.

* * *

Tokishima Soichi was almost bouncing in place as he waited for his son to be escorted to his lab. The act drew more than one odd look from H-Neun at his side, but Soichi was never one to care for such things.

The only thing that mattered was his son. He was just full of surprises.

Tokishima Soichi really liked surprises.

Surprises were unexpected happenings. Surprises meant there were still thing in this world he did not know. Surprises meant there was still so much to learn.

He had honestly thought the girl would die.

As he was now Haruto did not need a huge quantity of Runes to survive, but Soichi knew the state of Haruto's mind would demand feeding the moment he regaining consciousness. In a state where he could barely tell left from right, feeding until there was nothing left was only natural.

To think his son was able to control himself in that state!

Then again, maybe he should not be surprised. Only an inferior lifeform would fully surrender to instinct.

Which was not to say his son was perfect yet. Far from it. He still let sympathy for lower beings cloud his judgment. Perhaps he should have bought him a dog when he was a kid. His need for inferior companionship would have been sated at an early age. Oh well, now they would have ample time to work on that.

"Welcome, my son!" He said with open arms when the doors to his lab opened. In walked Tokishima Haruto and Ohta Nao escorted by half a dozen guards.

Not that those guards could do anything if his son decided he wanted to escape, but there was no need to let them know that.

"Explain." In contrast to his father's jovial tones, Haruto's words might have been made out of ice.

"You!" Father and son turned to Nao whose finger was pointed at H-Neun. "You are the one who kidnapped me!"

"'Hey there," H-Neun said, raising his palm for a short wave.

The casual reply made Nao's cheeks red with anger. Only the knowledge they were surrounded by unfriendly soldiers kept her from doing more.

"Okay, that is enough of that." Soichi clapped to call for everyone's attention. "I believe you are looking for answers and I shall do my best to provide them."

Soichi motioned them to follow him through the maze of equipment that was his lab. They did but not before trading reluctant glances with each other

"My son," Soichi began while they walked, "as you remember now thanks to your session with the lovely young girl next to you..."

Haruto flinched. He fought the urge to punch the man. Good as it might feel, it would do no good right now.

For her part, Nao refused to meet anyone's gaze, mortified by the knowledge they had been seen.

It had been her first kiss!

"You died," Soichi went on, always uncaring of the reactions of the people around him. "Unit 1 ate up all of your Runes."

"The battle with Cain," Haruto said. He could remember it clearly now.

"Hold it," Nao spoke up. "What do you mean died? You mean like… Rukino-san?"

"Homo Sapiens Novus," Soichi said. "All Valvrave pilots go through the ascension process, things such as being stabbed through the heart meant little to them. However, my son's condition went beyond that. Even his regenerative skills did not help him."

"Then how?" Haruto asked, looking at his father with hard eyes. "How am I alive?"

"I brought you back," his father said before finally stopping next to a large machine. H-Neun's eyes widened when he saw it.

So this was the doctor's game then?

"It was not easy," Dr. Tokishima said, seeing Haruto's incredulous look, "The theory, I had worked out a long time ago. I just needed to have H-Neun here bring your body to me, along with a collection of Runes from Unit 1."

"You are welcome," H-Neun said when Haruto turned his gaze to him.

"And though I did not ask him, bringing the young miss certainly helped," Soichi added, before addressing Nao. "I must say I expected you to die in that room. You are quite fortunate."

Nao decided she did not like this man at all.

"But… I used up all my Runes... what did you do?" Haruto asked looking not at his father but at his own body. Something had happened. He was sure of it. He could feel it in his bones. In his entire body.

He was different now. He almost felt uncomfortable in his own skin in a way that had nothing to do with nervousness.

"I rebuilt you," Soichi said. "I reduced your body down to base materials. Your Runes were of great help towards that."

Haruto opened his mouth to object.

"Your Runes were not gone," his father said, anticipating Haruto's objection. "Runes fuel the Valvrave, but the relationship is not quite simple consumption."

The truth behind Runes was complicated, and if his theory was right even the Magius did not know everything. Only he, Soichi Tokishima, fully understood, and he was not about to share the secret with Haruto just yet or anyone else for the matter.

"Even when you gave all your Runes to the Valvrave, they were not gone forever," Soichi said. "The information needed was still there. Once I had the blueprints, reconstructing you was easy enough."

Haruto breathed. It was a deep breath. Any other action would have resulted in him lashing out at his father.

"Then this body…?"

Soichi smiled. "One hundred percent new!"

Haruto felt light headed. He had died. For real this time.

He had died and been brought back.

What was he? Blueprints? What did that even mean? Was it that easy to make him?

Was he even Haruto anymore?

"Why?" He asked, his voice hoarse. It was the only thing he could do at the moment.

"As your father and creator what else could I do? My son, you have not even begun to show your true potential," His father said, sounding like Haruto had just asked something ridiculous. "It took me a while to convince them of your value, but I suppose their intellect only goes so far."

"Them?" Haruto zeroed in on that word.

"You are working for the Council."

It was not a question. It was not even a theory. The moment the thought came to him, it instantly solidified into a fact.

Soichi nodded approvingly. "I always said you had a good brain. Well, I made it so of course it is good!"

Chuckling slightly at his own tactless joke, Soichi Tokishima continued. "Yes, we are currently inside a facility run by the Council. The working accommodations are quite suitable. I daresay you will grow to like them as well."

"Me?" Gears shifted inside Haruto's mind. He had died and been brought back to life by the combined efforts of his father and the Council. He could almost believe his father would do it just because he could, but the same could not be said for the Council.

If he had been brought back, then it had been for a reason.

"I am not a weapon," He said coldly.

"Of course you are not a weapon," Soichi said, insulted his son could even suggest such a thing. "Your value is far higher than a mere killing tool."

"But," H-Neun broke in, "The Council has different ideas about that. Welcome to the team… I guess"

Haruto glared at them. "I will not work with you."

"I assumed you would resist the idea," Soichi said, looking much like a father debating whether to indulge the whims of his child or not.

"Luckily I planned accordingly."

From his pocket, he produced a small remote. With the push of a button one of the many screens around them came to life. The three teenagers on the room found their gazes drawn to what was displayed there.

People. Men, women and children. Dozens of them, All locked behind bars and chained. A multitude of people with nothing but misery in their faces.

"You don't know these people," Soichi said, drawing the looks back to him. "They are not even from JIOR. Most of them are undesirables. Homeless people. Vagabonds. Petty thieves. Addicts. From a Darwinist perspective, society would be better without them."

Soichi paused, letting all the information sink in. Once the initial confusion narrowed into anger, he continued.

"They will be harvested for Runes," the doctor said.

"They will be killed!" Haruto snapped.

"Quite," Soichi said. "All of them will die… unless, someone could provide something more valuable than the Runes that could be gained by killing them."

Soichi Tokishima did not see the need to elaborate further. His son was smart enough to understand. The people were hostages. Haruto would do the bidding of the Council or else they would die.

It would be easy to walk away from an offer like that. The people were nameless faces. Not family. Not loved ones. There was no reason to for him to agree.

He could just let them die.

Tokishima Haruto would never forgive himself if he made such a choice.

"I will even throw the young miss here," Soichi said, referring to Nao. "Unlike you, there is no reason to keep her alive."

Haruto fumed as Nao paled. His fist clenched tightly at his sides. His nails bit into his skin hard enough to almost draw blood.

Even if he had died. Even if this body was entirely new. Even if he was not entirely sure who he was anymore, Tokishima Haruto could not make that type of choice.

Human or Kamitsuki, it didn't matter. He would not give up and become a monster.

"What do you need me to do?" He said each word as if it was a curse.

"That's the spirit!" Soichi said. "For now, just step inside the machine."

As he said this, the large machine next to him opened up. In it, there was seat surrounded by cables, needles, and tubes. However, what called Haruto's attention was the green glow he knew quite well by now.

"This machine can be used to inject Runes into other beings," his father said. "If you are going to be of use, it is necessary to keep you at 100%."

Haruto glared. "If I refuse, you will threaten them again, won't you?"

"If you understand that much there is no need for me to say more," Dr. Tokishima said.

The impotent rage in Haruto's eyes was almost frightening. He knew where those Runes came from. He remembered the Phantom.

These were Runes taken from innocent people. People had been killed in order to obtain them. The same fate awaited the hostages his father had threatened him with.

If he used them, he was taking advantage of the butchering of others.

If he did not use them, he would doom others to the same fate.

Soichi Tokishima and H-Neun made careful note of the crimson shining in Haruto's eyes.

With steps marked by anger, Haruto stepped into the machine and for the first time directly benefited from the sacrifice of another human being.

* * *

AN:

Well, this took a long time to update. The thing has been finished for half a month now, but I barely had time to edit it afterwards. Hence the long wait.

Also, I'll say right away this is not a Haruto/Nao fic. It could have been any female in that scene. I just wanted to hint at a few things there.

Besides, it's not a space vampire story without biting.

Next chapter, we'll see Shoko again as well as a look at other students plus the mystery of the possible intruder on the Module. Finally, Dr. Tokishima's team gets its first mission. It should be fun.


End file.
